"From there, we followed the lights of the helicopter," he said. 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. Lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines and singer Cassie Gaines were all killed in the crash, and the band stopped performing and recording. Before joining the music band, she was an original cast member of a school play under Hairspray. There were 24 passengers and two crew members aboard the aircraft. 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. I can't remember," he said. That's when Mote connected the dots with the noise he had heard earlier. It would also be the first album that guitarist Steve Gaines would be the sole guitar player on. Everyone just stood there helpless. Two of them were crew members, pilot Walter McReary and co-pilot William Gray, the rest were band members and roadies. Despite this faux pas, Powell has been on good terms with the remaining band members since the incident. Ronnies mother Marion refused to make the flight, after seeing a horrific plane crash of her own that killed 9 people. Pilot Walter McCrearey and co-pilot John Grey were killed on impact. It would take hours to remove the bodies of the dead and injured from the plane. Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash site draws a pilgrimage. Then on the other side, it was Allen in the middle of Dean and Cassie. She was born on 9th January 1948 in Missouri, USA. Steve Gaines was killed instantly upon impact and his sister Cassie Gaines perished as well. A medical examiner said on Sunday that Wilkeson suffered from chronic liver and lung disease, and most likely died of natural causes. 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 began her career at a young age but has grown steadily over the years to become one of the best in Hollywood. The band regularly has different people sit in and play shows with them like Warren Haynes and Dicky Betts. Tuesday October 20, 2015 marked the 38th anniversary and drew several veterans from the night of the crash. Lynyrd Skynyrd Bassist Wilkeson Found Dead - ABC News She was planning to join the tour in Little Rock on October 23, three days after the crash. The album would reach gold in ten days after release and it would eventually go double platinum. One band member, JoJo Billingsly, was not on the flight. The rest of the group had no idea at the time that they would never see the face of Ronnie again. At the time of her death she survived by her large extended friends and family. "Seems like everyone is writing a book. The medical examiner reported that Wilkeson suffered from liver and lung disease at the time of his death. 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. How did Cassie Gaines of the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd die? - Yen When he was sober, he was a fair and kind person. How did Cassie Gaines get in Lynyrd Skynyrd? What happened to the Menendez brothers' money? Allen's wife would bleed to death due to a miscarriage. Remembering Lynyrd Skynyrd's Deadly 1977 Plane Crash The death of Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, and Cassie Gains of the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd was a massive blow to many. "Folks were all mashed together. On several occasions, the latter shined through. Cassie Gaines was born on January 9, 1948 and died on October 20, 1977. Leon Wilkeson and Billy Powell would both go on to pursue other musical ventures and both have a hand in several Lynyrd Skynyrd re-boots. 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. 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 other two members were JoJo Billingsley and Leslie Hawkins. he said, barely able to get his English to suit his thoughts. Cassie Gaines - Bio, Personal Life, Family & Cause Of Death - CelebsAges 5 spot, it was the bands first No. Photo: obviousmag.org. After the death of three of their members, the band decided to change the cover photo of the album, which initially featured a picture of the band engulfed in flames. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? Last of the two surviving original member of the band, Gary Rossington, with Johnny Van Zant to his left and guitarist Rickey Medlocke to the right. "I saw the blond hair," he said. "I was well prepared with advanced trauma life support training," he said, "and (I was) a flight surgeon in the military. Contributing to the fuel exhaustion were inadequate flight planning and an engine malfunction of undetermined nature in the engine which resulted in higher than normal fuel consumption.". It sounded great to us. Some of the guys were playing poker. He was only 39, but was no rookie. ", Other questions:subscriberservices@theadvocate.com. Los Angeles, Billie Eilishs phone is now internet-free: Im like: Ew! Where Did We Find This Stuff? I was a young graphic artist at the time. He drove down from his home in Oakland, Miss. They were directing him to the property next to his family's farm. But a message on the group's official Web site said the summer tour will resume on Aug. 7, in Spokane, Wash. In 1986, his car ran off a road and crashed into a culvert, paralyzing him from the waist down and killing his girlfriend. We always wondered why, you know. The surviving members would grapple with this throughout their days. 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. I admired his ability to tell gripping stories with his camera, so I began considering a career change. He also knew I had no business there, but his face told me he knew I was beginning a new career that night. Powells nose had been nearly ripped from his face after crashing head first through a table. Lynyrd Skynyrd was known for their hard-rocking style, driven by powerful guitars. The location sounded familiar so he asked them to repeat. Artimus Pyle emerged with several broken ribs, and bleeding everywhere you could. 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. 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. The years after the crash would be difficult in its own right for surviving members, most of which would experience tragedy and early death themselves. There have been several different theories as to the culprits of this unfortunate crashing that point the finger toward watcher by Artimus, as well as the pilots of the plane themselves. Band confidant, Gene Odum, is privately interviewed to share his story on what happened on this awful day in history. 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 According to a Billboard report, he died of natural causes in his sleep. Ultimate Classic Rock What Happened to the Survivors of the Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash? At the end of the day, Ronnie and the boys are gone and we lost a rock n roll angel on October 20, 1977. Pyle used the couple's phone to call his wife. He pulled the lifeless body of Cassie Gaines up by her belt. Soon after the plane would begin to jerk and shake violently. Musician. 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. Willing to lend a hand and stick by his bandmates, he was hard to beat when standing by your side. 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. His first impression was, "What is a bunch of hippies doing on an airplane? Marc Frank, a 24-year-old roadie traveling with the band, noticed what seemed to be fuel spewing from the right engine. He suffered a heart attack . In the beginning, the singer was reluctant to board the aircraft and had already bought another commercial flight ticket. Marc Frank was beaten terribly and was also covered in lacerations and blood. Here Are Our Sources: Remembering Lynyrd Skynyrds Deadly 1977 Plane Crash, Jordan Runtagh, The Rolling Stones, What Happened To The Surviving Members Of The Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash?, Micheal Cristopher, Ultimate Classic Rock.com, Falling Free Bird: The Truth About The Infamous Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash Is Stranger Than Fiction, Phil Gibbons, Ranker.com, The Joplin Globe Steve and Cassie Gaines to be inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame. Totaled, decimated, and left for dead. But soon, the helicopters that were heard and seen previously were on the scene. By then, a Coast Guard helicopter was hovering overhead. Mike Rounsaville also arrived in the jeep with Dr. Lewis. Tangled by underbrush and the 20-foot creek, the rescue team had to act and think fast. He had been impaled by a part of the fuselage and it pushed through his body and projected out of his back. Pyle, Frank, and Peden were met with hostility when they finally came up to Mote. We had a friendly translator whose command of the English language was poor at best. The years after the crash would be difficult in its own right for surviving members, most of which would experience tragedy and early death themselves. Photo: Pinterest. If you look closely, Ronnie Van Zant and Steve Gaines (2 of 3 band members to die in the crash) are completely engulfed in flames, whereas the rest of the band is merely standing around in the streets of fire. Millions of high-quality images, video, and music options are waiting for you. Her brother was Skynyrd guitarist Steve Gaines. "They stopped, straight back there," he said, and pointed to the tree line a quarter mile across open hay fields and woods. In the ensuing chaos, souvenir hunters took billfolds, jewelry, suitcases, band merchandise and even chunks of metal from the crash site. 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. Rossington recalls saying It was always weird for Allen and me because we were up front in the plane. However, they were apparently talked into using it just one more time which happened to be their last ride. It felt like being hit with baseball bats in a steel garbage can with the lid on. Pilots Walter McCreary and William Gray were fully aware of a fuel shortage before the flight took off. The single "What's Your Name" reached #13 on the single airplay charts in January of 1978. The Truth Behind Ronnie Van Zant's LAST Ride - Society Of Rock Even though she survived the actual crash, she eventually bled to death before the rescue team could reach her. Gary continues on the band with Ronnies brother, Johnny Van Zant, and guitarist Ricky Medlocke. It was Steve, and me, and Ronnie and I was in the middle of them. Sooner Guitarist's Music Lives On Even in Death - The Oklahoman Artimus Pyle was also notoriously outspoken against the plane and on several occasions would take buses to shows. Violent, wild, and belligerent, Ronnie was a force to be reckoned with. And to Brenda's point, he's writing a book. Performance & security by Cloudflare. The aircraft crashed in a heavily wooded area during an attempted emergency landing. He then assembled a convoy of trucks and four-wheelers to locate the crash site and rescue the survivors. Laying on the ground, still alive for only a moment, to slowly bleed to death. 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. The album had two notable songs: Whats your name and That Smell. Allen Collins, who lost fellow members of the rock group Lynyrd Skynyrd in a 1977 plane crash and was paralyzed four years ago in a drunken driving accident, died Tuesday of pneumonia. Van Zant, Steve and Cassie Gaines, Kilpatrick and the pilots were laid in a temporary morgue at a local high school gymnasium. "New Orleans is a southern city. 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. News had spread about the crash and before too long an estimated 3,000 people had swarmed to the crash site. 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. 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. We were shocked, as were most others hearing the news. Artimus has had many ups and downs since then, several incarcerations, and a huge falling out with Gary. 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." In addition to his fractured ribcage, Artimus Pyle was treated for numerous abrasions and contusions. Marc Frank was beaten terribly and was also covered in lacerations and blood. You have permission to edit this article. Steven Earl Gaines (September 14, 1949 - October 20, 1977) was an American musician. The band would be marked for strife as just before their inaugural tour, Allens wife would bleed to death due to a miscarriage. Photo: hu.wikipedia.com. After claiming his deceased son, Lacy Van Zant went to visit the other members of the band at the hospital. Lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines and singer Cassie Gaines were all killed in the crash, and the . Artimus Pyle and Gary Rossington are the only two members alive today from the crash. The fuselage turned sideways, and everybody was hurled forward.. memorial page for Cassie LaRue Hatfield Gaines (26 Nov 1926-15 Feb 1979), Find a Grave Memorial ID 37010431, citing Jacksonville Memory . 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. ", "I never cared about flying in an airplane," he said. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Billy Powell would be in the new starting line-up of Lynyrd Skynyrd until his death in 2009. Thats when most of the sober members of the band saw that the right propeller was no longer working. "I've been coming for years," he said, "and I've never met anyone who was here that night. 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. Where Did We Find This Stuff?