It was Steve, and me, and Ronnie and I was in the middle of them. As medical personnel triaged the scene, he helped carry the litters of the injured and the dead across the creek to a waiting 4-wheel-drive pickup truck. My younger brother and I banged out "Freebird" on a cheap set of drums in our bedroom. In 1982 he would form the Allen Collins band but shortly after would wreck his new Ford Thunderbird, killing his then girlfriend and paralyzing Collins. "If (that tree) could talk, it'd tell you all about it," he said. He had been impaled by a part of the fuselage and it pushed through his body and projected out of his back. With the tree tops approaching fast and just eight miles short of the air strip, the plane was headed for a Mississippi swamp and nothing could be done to save them now. Terror soon engulfed the cabin of the plane and the pilots were frantically trying to radio local Houston Air Traffic Control, stating they had a fuel issue and were most likely going to have to make a emergency landing. From the commercial hits of Free Bird and Simple Man to less mainstream songs like The Needle And The Spoon and T Is For Texas, Lynyrd Skynyrd and their driving southern sound quickly cut their way to the top of the charts and into the hearts of many across the states and around the world. The cockpit, tail, and wings completely ripped apart and the remaining cab lay desolate, in the shape of an L. The plane was simply not built well enough to even remotely handle the impact from the pine trees at roughly 90 mph. Their lyrics were raw and fresh - honest and simple. Buker had noticed the flight crew passing around liquor bottles while aboard the plane. Contributing to the fuel exhaustion were inadequate flight planning and an engine malfunction of undetermined nature in the right engine which resulted in higher-than-normal fuel consumption." Ultimate Classic Rock What Happened to the Survivors of the Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash? The band leased a new Convair CV-240 to help them get between shows easier. I grabbed my camera and jumped in the car. Allen Collins kept moving on, eventually getting together with Gary Rossington to form the Rossington Collins Band. The flight was going good so far and other than Ronnie getting severely intoxicated while on the flight, all seemed to be setting up to be another routine flight. There is some speculation as to why the second engine had ultimately failed. He was only 39, but was no rookie. His first band recorded its debut at Sun Recording Studio in Memphis, and later bands included RIO Smokehouse and Rusty Day. The plane had a thinner fuselage and smaller wingspan than any of its kind at the time. Her mother passed away on 15th February 1979 in a car accident. Johnny Mote and his ragtag team were first on the crash site. Lead vocalist and founding member of the southern rock band, Ronnie Van Zant, also lost his life in the accident. Freebird, Lynyrd Skynyrd, 10/20/77 and a notebook-sized rebel flag are deeply etched into the old bark. Billy Powell, the bands keyboardist, received extensive facial lacerations and a broken right knee. Cassie Gaines, Steve Gainess sister who were both bound for death in the crash, would routinely ride on the equipment bus rather than the plane. As soon as it seemed that the worst of the flight was passing, the true nightmare was about to set in for Lynyrd Skynyrd and the crew aboard. As we walked through the woods, Governor and I agree that nothing looked or felt the same. Powell's nose had been nearly ripped from his face after crashing head first through a table. If a band couldn't play Skynyrd, they didn't get hired for the school dance. Brenda Martin, 17 at the time, lived with her husband, Johnny Mote (now divorced) in their mobile home on the north side of the crash site. Then on the other side, it was Allen in the middle of Dean and Cassie. ", He reached up and pealed the split fuselage back and, with a flashlight, peered into the dark, jumbled mess of bodies. The album had deeper meaning than most. Especially with the song That Smell. So, we're both southerners.". Cloudflare Ray ID: 7a2fad0cc830fa72 The tail section broke off, the cockpit broke off and buckled underneath, then both wings broke off. Access the best of Getty Images with our simple subscription plan. Cause of death: Car accident. That's when Mote connected the dots with the noise he had heard earlier. The reason behind this? After a shorter-than-normal day of bow hunting, he received a phone call about a plane crash in the area. A Convair CV-240, similar to the one in the crash. Steven Earl Gaines (September 14, 1949 - October 20, 1977) was an American musician. Video of a barechested Pyle at the 1979 Volunteer Jam does not show evidence of a gunshot wound. That now legendary and near-mythical plane crash killed Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, Honkettes backup singer Cassie Gaines, assistant tour manager Dean Kilpatrick and the pilot and co-p I threw it in reverse and plowed into my mother-in-law's car. Cassie Gaines Birthday and Date of Death. A Convair CV-240. Wilkeson would play in both Rossington Collins Band and the Allen Collins band. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Band confidant, Gene Odum, is privately interviewed to share his story on what happened on this awful day in history. Born Steven Earl Gaines, the son of Cassie Hatfield and Earl Gaines. Two of them were crew members, pilot Walter McReary and co-pilot William Gray, the rest were band members and roadies. As soon as it seemed that the worst of the flight was passing, the true nightmare was about to set in for Lynyrd Skynyrd and the crew aboard. In addition to his fractured ribcage, Artimus Pyle was treated for numerous abrasions and contusions. The band was reaching fever pitch with its fans across the South and the nation. On one occasion after a show, he approached Billy Powell who was the bands keyboard player, and punched him so hard in the mouth he knocked his two front teeth out. Drummer Artimus Pyle crawled out of the plane wreckage with several broken ribs, but was ambulatory, as were road crew members Kenneth Peden Jr. and Mark Frank. Birthday: January 9, 1948. "They seemed to be chasing him, trying to flag him down. Everyone was afraid of riding on this plane. His wife, Lola, and my wife grew up together. Photo: obviousmag.org. I would like to think that only one grave robber was involved, but so many items were missing that I have to believe otherwise. It was as if they were back in Noahs time and all but a select few were stricken with greed of mankind and the chance to capitalize on an easy opportunity. Deceased people hanging from trees, the other survivors moaning for help of any kind, and completely surrounded by a black swamp whose canopy is blocking the only light that is trying so desperately to shine through. Wilkeson cheated death in 1977, surviving a crash of the band's chartered plane. Rudge chartered three planes for loved ones to identify the bodies. Birth Name: Cassie LaRue Gaines Occupation: Rock Singer Place Of Birth: Missouri Date Of Birth: January 9, 1948 Date Of Death: October 20, 1977 Cause Of Death: N/A Ethnicity: White Nationality: American Cassie Gaines was born on the 9th of January, 1948. Pilots Walter McCreary and William Gray were fully aware of a fuel shortage before the flight took off. Circa 1975, Singers Cassie Gaines , Leslie Hawkins and Jo Jo Billingsley of the American rock group, Lynyrd Skynyrd, 1970s. Gary Rossington, one of the bands guitar players, had suffered two broken arms, a broken leg, a punctured stomach and liver. He later caused a controversy by giving a lurid account of Cassie Gaines' final moments on a VH1 Behind The Music special about the band, claiming that the backing singer's throat was cut from ear to ear and that she bled to death in his arms. The news was shocking -- a plane crash near my hometown of McComb, Miss. On October 20, 1977, Cassie Gaines died of non-communicable disease. Collins began his rise to success as the lightning-fingered guitarist for the Jacksonville band formed in 1966 by a group of high school students. she asked me as we talked. Even long after she is gone, her legacy as one of the most talented singers remains. The will to carry on was strong, however, Pyle being a US Marine, would live out the phrase Semper Fidelis which means always faithful. Photo: Uncle Johns Bathroom Reader. The choppers belonged to the Coast Guard, National Guard and Forrest County General Hospital, who were doing their best to ferry people in, and illuminate the crash site. Assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, the pilot, and co-pilot Walter McCreary and William Gray also died. I told him that it was the strongest thing I had seen a man do.. These things don't happen here. The album cover depicted the band members in an alleyway covered in flames. Be the first to get hottest news from our Editor-in-Chief, Check your email and confirm your subscription. The album had two notable songs: Whats your name and That Smell. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. It is reported that the pilots whose eyes were full of terror, told them to go back to their seats and prepare for impact. Cassie Gaines Lynard Skynyrd plane crash was one of the band's most challenging moments. Shining from what seemed to be a small house on a dairy farm. Allen's wife would bleed to death due to a miscarriage. I began the classic guitar lick. Gene Odom had been thrown from the plane and broke his neck, his skin badly burned and one eye blinded by phosphorus from a de-icing flare that had been aboard. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. He needed to use their darkroom to get his photos out. Steve Gaines was killed instantly upon impact and his sister Cassie Gaines perished as well. Collins recovered and began performing again, eventually forming the Allen Collins Band. Cassie Gaines cause of death The talented singer met her death at the young age of 29. She was hesitant because she had seen a small fire in one of the engines the previous day. Lynyrd Skynyrd is no doubt an American staple in music and southern rock culture. According to an interview in the book Freebirds, Billingsley had dreamed of the plane crash and begged Allen Collins by telephone not to continue using the Convair. In an interview in the book Walk This Way, Aerosmith's assistant chief of flight operations Zunk Buker tells of seeing pilots McCreary and Gray trading a bottle of Jack Daniels back and forth while Buker and his father were inspecting the plane. She died from excessive bleeding as her throat had been cut from ear to ear. Van Zant died instantly of blunt force trauma to the head.