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Cassie was buried in Orange Park, Florida, together with her brother, Steve Gains. "Live on my brother. Medical personnel arrived and began to ferry out the injured and the dead. So on the prow of this small boat, plowing the coastal water on the other side of the world, he and I abandoned inhibition with an unabashed air guitar jam. She died from excessive bleeding as her throat had been cut from ear to ear. Boards are the best place to save images and video clips. Everyone on the flight, except for Ronnie Van Zant, was feeling uneasy and restless. Posted and no trespassing signs are prominently displayed. Pyle used the couple's phone to call his wife. "But using a phone out here is worthless," he said, and even with his expertise, he had trouble finding the exact spot of the crash site. One band member, JoJo Billingsly, was not on the flight. He lifted one after another and shuffled them to others outside. "I knew she was gone. read another typical message of mourning. Rock Musician. Band confidant, Gene Odum, is privately interviewed to share his story on what happened on this awful day in history. Billy Powell would be in the new starting line-up of Lynyrd Skynyrd until his death in 2009. Easley knows he wasn't the first on the site, but he was there early. Since Cassie was not aware of the band's existence at that time, Jojo offered her a copy of Lynyrd Skynyrd's first two albums to make her acquainted with the band's work. Totaled, decimated, and left for dead. All of the seats were ripped from the frame of the plane, landing in the front section of the crash. Natural causes were to blame. The albums that followed featured a plain black background. "He (Mote) ran in the door saying, 'Ya'll get down on the floor, there's escaped convicts out there," Martin remembers. Steve Gaines was killed instantly upon impact and his sister Cassie Gaines perished as well. Cassie Gaines - Bio, Personal Life, Family & Cause Of Death - CelebsAges In addition to his fractured ribcage, Artimus Pyle was treated for numerous abrasions and contusions. Sit down. The plane had taken off with a faulty gasoline gauge that fooled the pilots into thinking that the plane was equipped with the appropriate amount of gas to reach their destination. Where Did We Find This Stuff? Without wanting to cause alarm he thought to himself that maybe the pilots were trying to transfer fuel from one engine to another. Part of the preparations required contacting landowners and securing permission to be there and a guide to lead me in. He could hear the people moaning, pleading for help. Steve Gaines - Wikipedia Leon Wilkeson, their bass player, had arguably the most harrowing recovery; as he faced many internal injuries, dislodged teeth, and a broken left arm and leg, and his heart stopped twice on the operating table while doctors frantically struggled to keep him alive. Making the original release cover more valuable to collectors than the second cover released just a few weeks after the album hit the shelves. For many years, a dozen red roses have been carefully placed around the base, much like the mysterious unfinished bottle of Martell cognac at the grave of Edgar Allen Poe in Baltimore. All reality had been broken and none of the surviving members would ever be the same or view life the same again. The guys hit the dirt and yelling out with what they had left Hey! A spokesperson for the band's record label said Wilkeson died in his sleep Friday at a hotel near Jacksonville, Florida. Lead vocalist and founding member of the southern rock band, Ronnie Van Zant, also lost his life in the accident. to gather a few more. Freebird, Lynyrd Skynyrd, 10/20/77 and a notebook-sized rebel flag are deeply etched into the old bark. He was best known for being a Rock Singer. From left to right: Allen Collins, Ronnie Van Zant, And Gary Rossington. However, it is believed that the pilots were trying to transfer oil from one engine to another when they accidentally jettisoned the fuel instead. But not all had the intentions of lending a helping hand. He knew those woods well. It was rumored that it was Ed Kings (original guitar player for Lynyrd Skynyrd) wife but it was not confirmed. Her mother passed away on 15th February 1979 in a car accident. The other band members Collins, Gary Rossington, Wilkeson, Powell, Artimus Pyle, and Hawkins, tour manager Ron Eckerman, and several road crew suffered . 1977 Plane Crash | Lynyrd Skynyrd | Fandom It would take hours to remove the bodies of the dead and injured from the plane. As we walked, Easely pointed to a towering pine. Mote fired a warning shot in the air. I dont know who you think we are but we were on a plane and the plane crashed out there on the other side of that cow pasture. Mote instantly connected the dots to the sound he heard earlier and the men that lay before him. Ultimate Classic Rock What Happened to the Survivors of the Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash? He says he first came in the 80s after he graduated. Ronnie Van Zant enjoying a stog before a show. Lynyrd Skynyrd is a staple on rock, classic rock, and southern radio stations. Without wanting to cause alarm he thought to himself that maybe the pilots were trying to transfer fuel from one engine to another. Don't look like they can afford a ticket. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. His first impression was, "What is a bunch of hippies doing on an airplane? "You like Lynyrd Skynyrd?" The Tragic Death Of Lynyrd Skynyrd's Ronnie Van Zant - Grunge.com "It was stuff I'd been trained to do," he said. she asked me as we talked. Some blame it on the planes age and poor design, weighing in on its smaller fuselage and compact wingspan. Your IP: Almost as mysteriously, the full bottle is never seen again. The album had two notable songs: Whats your name and That Smell. ", Other questions:subscriberservices@theadvocate.com. Yen.com.gh shared an interesting piece on Bianca Lawson age, parents, husband, kids, net worth, and movies. But I couldn't stand it any longer. After claiming his deceased son, Lacy Van Zant went to visit the other members of the band at the hospital. They were scheduled to perform at the Louisiana State University. This year there were no red roses, but a freshly carved "R.J." stood out with red paint enhancement. ", He reached up and pealed the split fuselage back and, with a flashlight, peered into the dark, jumbled mess of bodies. However, other band members convinced her otherwise. The album had a very controversial cover when released. The original cover was restored after the 30th anniversary of the album. The band has sold an estimated 35 million records. Any debris left on the ground has long been buried. Be the first to get hottest news from our Editor-in-Chief, Check your email and confirm your subscription. Despite this faux pas, Powell has been on good terms with the remaining band members since the incident. Photo: Pinterest. He was known as Papa Ronnie. Cassie Gaines, a member of the backing vocal trio known as the Honkettes and sister of guitarist Steve Gaines, was so petrified that she nearly squeezed in the band's cramped equipment truck. I've not looked at them since. 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 was well prepared with advanced trauma life support training," he said, "and (I was) a flight surgeon in the military. Laying on the ground, still alive for only a moment, to slowly bleed to death. Even long after she is gone, her legacy as one of the most talented singers remains. Lynyrd Skynyrd reformed in 1987, and has been touring and recording steadily ever since with Johnny Van Zant, brother of the late Ronnie, as lead singer. The fuselage turned sideways, and everybody was hurled forward.. And to Brenda's point, he's writing a book. 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. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that the probable cause of this accident was fuel exhaustion and total loss of power from both engines due to crew inattention to the fuel supply. Thats when most of the sober members of the band saw that the right propeller was no longer working. The 22-year-old had been outside bailing hay in the twilight when he heard the crash in the distance, which he assumed was a car skidding in gravel. But after seeing helicopter searchlights, he started to assume it was a jailbreak instead. It would be another hour before I heard the big news. No one that hit the ground alive died. Gary Rossington, one of the bands guitar players, had suffered two broken arms, a broken leg, a punctured stomach and liver. By then, a Coast Guard helicopter was hovering overhead. Their lyrics were raw and fresh - honest and simple. But soon, the helicopters that were heard and seen previously were on the scene. I told him that it was the strongest thing I had seen a man do.. Video of a barechested Pyle at the 1979 Volunteer Jam does not show evidence of a gunshot wound. Both pilots were lost in the crash as well, however, a decent amount of fans seek the closure of their conviction of attempted manslaughter, even in death. Wilkeson would play in both Rossington Collins Band and the Allen Collins band. But one thing I'm proud of. The site is hard to access. His luck, however, was on the short end of the stick as he would have his throat slit while on the Lynyrd Skynyrd tour bus in the early 90s. Rossington and keyboardist Billy Powell are now the only founding members in the band. 35 Years After Tragedy, Lynyrd Skynyrd Still Carries On - Rolling Stone His first band recorded its debut at Sun Recording Studio in Memphis, and later bands included RIO Smokehouse and Rusty Day. One band member, JoJo Billingsly, was not on the flight. With a newly-released album, "Street Survivors," they were flying from a concert in Greenville, S.C. to the next night's show at LSU in Baton Rouge in a substandard charter plane. You have permission to edit this article. Mote recalls the first thing he saw was a bloody hand sticking out from the wreckage. With the dust settled from a plane crash that would make a small Mississippi town famous, everything that surrounded the few conscious and able survivors were completely horrific and getting darker by the second. Before joining the music band, she was an original cast member of a school play under Hairspray. "Steve was at the peak of his career. He had known Easley Creek since his youth. ", But with no experience he morphed from a dairy farmer to a rescuer. Lynyrd Skynyrd pose for a portrait circa 1976. Before long, he noticed three men emerge from the dense woods along the pasture. His only help at that moment was his neighbor, Dwain Easley. In the beginning, the singer was reluctant to board the aircraft and had already bought another commercial flight ticket. Streamline your workflow with our best-in-class digital asset management system. Lynyrd Skynyrd is no doubt an American staple in music and southern rock culture. At the beginning of the flight, all was well, amid high tensions. We just had released an album that went gold almost overnight. Lynyrd Skynyrd stops for a shot in 1973. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. At the beginning of the flight, all was well, amid high tensions. Everyone was afraid of riding on this plane. On several occasions, the latter shined through. In the ensuing chaos, souvenir hunters took billfolds, jewelry, suitcases, band merchandise and even chunks of metal from the crash site. Laying on the ground, still alive for only a moment, to slowly bleed to death. Van Zant himself "loathed flying," as Rolling Stone. A little after an hour of trudging through a creek and at one point burrowing underneath a barbed wire fence they found themselves staring at a small, dim light in the distance. Cassie Gaines: Southern Rock's Honkette | Rocks Off Mag He suffered a heart attack while on break from tour. As we talked, we heard a racket through the trees. Toxicology tests were also ordered to determine whether there were drugs in his system at the time. Lynyrd Skynyrd did not plan on keeping the plane for long. The band has been on tour, and dates through the weekend have been cancelled. We always wondered why, you know. The surviving members would grapple with this throughout their days. Photo: obviousmag.org. It was suggested on the VH-1 Behind The Music profile on Skynyrd that this was the case, or that the pilots, panicking when the right engine failed, accidentally dumped the remaining fuel. Wilkeson suffered severe internal injuries, including a punctured lung, and had most of his teeth knocked out. When the group asked Ronnies father how he was, he simply replied Hes fine. You are already subscribed to our newsletter! Collins entered the hospital with pneumonia symptoms and was in a coma the last few days, said longtime friend Ann Thompson. Leon Wilkeson, their bass player, had arguably the most harrowing recovery; as he faced many internal injuries, dislodged teeth, and a broken left arm and leg, and his heart stopped twice on the operating table while doctors frantically struggled to keep him alive. Tap into Getty Images' global scale, data-driven insights, and network of more than 340,000 creators to create content exclusively for your brand. The plane was produced from 1947-1954. It was the last flight of Lynyrd Skynyrd: Oct. 20, 1977, the night they . On hearing of the accident, Billingsley was so shaken that some of her hair fell out. The singer died in the arms of the surviving band's keyboardist Billy Powell. Then on the other side, it was Allen in the middle of Dean and Cassie. She began her career at a young age but has grown steadily over the years to become one of the best in Hollywood. She said her husband grabbed his .243 hunting rifle, ran out and fired a warning shot. Bianca is a force to be reckoned with in the American film industry. The events before the plane crash are perhaps the most bone-chilling ones you'd ever hear. The will to carry on was strong, however, Pyle being a US Marine, would live out the phrase Semper Fidelis which means always faithful. I worked the scene for about 30 minutes before a veteran photographer approached me and asked if I knew where the local paper "The Enterprise Journal" was located. But sadly when he drank, which was quite often, his demeanor and character qualities changed drastically. It was Dr. Hank Lewis, a month shy of 78-years-old. Headline from a local newspaper reporting the crash. Most of the 20 survivors were taken to Southwest Regional Medical Center in McComb, where the lobby had been transformed into a makeshift emergency treatment center to quickly deal with the onslaught of plane crash victims. Steve Gaines (1949-1977) - Find a Grave Memorial She was requested to join the band as a backing vocalist. The band was reaching fever pitch with its fans across the South and the nation. "From there, we followed the lights of the helicopter," he said. A chartered Convair 240, N55VM, carrying the band between shows from Greenville, South Carolina to LSU in Baton Rouge, Louisiana crashed near a forest in McComb, Mississippi. He suffered a heart attack . Her brother was Skynyrd guitarist Steve Gaines. Artimus has had many ups and downs since then, several incarcerations, and a huge falling out with Gary. I dont know who you think we are but we were on a plane and the plane crashed out there on the other side of that cow pasture. Mote instantly connected the dots to the sound he heard earlier and the men that lay before him. Dwain Easley still lives on the east side of the crash site. As the small band of brothers grew, the conversation grew lively but stayed reverent. The plane finally slammed into the earth, and Billy Powell recalls saying, We hit the trees at approximately 90 mph. 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. Marc Frank remembers seeing complete and total despair. The crash killed singer/songwriter Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist/vocalist Steve Gaines, vocalist Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary and co-pilot William Gray. Willing to lend a hand and stick by his bandmates, he was hard to beat when standing by your side. Powell also claimed that Ronnie Van Zant's head had been smashed. 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. The plane had completely disintegrated. A small plane with 40 seats and two props the plane was anything but extraordinary. Ronnie Van Zant and Steve Gaines, along with backup singer Cassie Gaines (Steve's older sister), assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary, and co-pilot William Gray died. 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. On the original pressing of the cover of Street Survivors was a photograph of the band engulfed in flames. Photo: Uncle Johns Bathroom Reader. Cassie Larue Gaines was an American singer. The fuselage turned sideways, and everybody was hurled forward.. Lewis was on emergency room call that night at McComb's Southwest Regional Medical Center. So, we're both southerners.". Its many hit songs include "Freebird," "Sweet Home Alabama," "Gimme Three Steps" and "Simple Man.". On another occasion, while reportedly on a drunken rage, he even slashed the hands of Gary Rossington, his best friend and guitarist, with a broken beer bottle. Things were going so well. It is reported that the pilots whose eyes were full of terror, told them to go back to their seats and prepare for impact. I was not there to be a gawker or to get in the way. Cassie was 29 years old at the time of death. ", "There were plenty of old boys standing around here. In this video you will see the true story behind the tragic passing of Ronnie Van Zant, Cassie Gaines, Dean Kilpatrick, and Steve Gaines on October 20, 1977. The band has asked that fans wishing to remember Wilkeson do so through the Musician's Assistance Program, which assists musicians and industry professionals seeking treatment for addiction. Pianist Billy Powell survived, but his nose was nearly torn off and he suffered severe facial lacerations. Thats when most of the sober members of the band saw that the right propeller was no longer working. The rest of the group had no idea at the time that they would never see the face of Ronnie again. It would also be the first album that guitarist Steve Gaines would be the sole guitar player on. In a separate interview, revealing the story of sound man Paul Welch who suffered traumatic injuries in this crash and was sent into a coma, shares that the plane that was utilized during this trip was already catching fire around the engine area and Lynyrd Skynyrd had requested to cease using it. "They seemed to be chasing him, trying to flag him down. Even though she survived the actual crash, she eventually bled to death before the rescue team could reach her. Among them were Lacy Van Zant, Ronnies Father, and .38 Specials Guitarist Dan Barnes. "We didn't know how much gas was on the ground. The Getty Images design is a trademark of Getty Images. Over the ridge, a World War II vintage Willis Jeep crawled down a dusty logging trail. Aerosmith's touring family was also relieved because the band, specifically Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, had been trying to pressure their management into renting that specific plane. Obviously it is hard to dictate the correct story when various opinions and recollections are thrown out, however, it seems to us as though the pilots were aware of the faulty issues of the plane, did not check to make sure that the plane had enough gas, and did not seem to make an attempt to alert the passengers of their timely death. 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." McDaniel was eager to join me. But not all had the intentions of lending a helping hand. What injuries did Cassie Gaines die from? I marked my calendar and made arrangements. Two bulldozers were dispatched to plow a primitive path off nearby Highway 568 in order to give a ground path available to the first responders. Powell's nose had been nearly ripped from his face after crashing head first through a table. . Photo: obviousmag.org. As the three marched on, feet soaking wet from the water, all odds seemed stacked against the trio. The crash killed singer/songwriter Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist/vocalist Steve Gaines, vocalist Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary and co-pilot William Gray. Through the woods, yet another seeker appeared. I didn't know where this was going. Circa 1975, Singers Cassie Gaines , Leslie Hawkins and Jo Jo Billingsley of the American rock group, Lynyrd Skynyrd, 1970s.