After a shorter-than-normal day of bow hunting, he received a phone call about a plane crash in the area. She performed as a backup singer in popular hits such as One More Time and That Smell. "If (that tree) could talk, it'd tell you all about it," he said. You are already subscribed to our newsletter! Gary Rossington broke both his arms and both his legs in the crash, and took many months to recuperate. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. He suffered a heart attack while on break from tour. Members of the band that survived the crash said that Cassie actually . Everyone on the flight, except for Ronnie Van Zant, was feeling uneasy and restless. One guy standing near the wreckage lit a cigarette and I tackled him," he said. Assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, the pilot, and co-pilot Walter McCreary and William Gray also died. Small and cramped, it still felt better than lift-off of the Convair CV-240. Allen Collins, another guitar player for the group, had cracked two vertebrae, and the cut to his right arm was so severe, that it almost required amputation. Rescue vehicles on the ground found no direct path in sight. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. Sadly, the band would not make it to Baton Rouge and the plane had been pushed one flight too many. It was going to be the replacement for Douglas C3s with a pressurized cabin that was then just being mandated as a rule for commercial airlines. Collins, 37, suffered respiratory failure, said a Memorial Medical Center spokeswoman. Here are 10 facts about Lynyrd Skynyrd and their fateful end. We always wondered why, you know. The surviving members would grapple with this throughout their days. Cassie Gaines died on the 20 th of October, 1977 in a plane crash at Gillsburg, Mississippi when she was only 29 years old. The guys hit the dirt and yelling out with what they had left Hey! In 1995, while on assignment in Phunket Thailand for the Times-Picayune's series "Oceans of Trouble," I boarded a small fantail fishing boat on the edges of the Andaman Sea with writer John McQuaid to photograph the disappearing mangroves. "That solidified that idea. The official report of the crash read: "The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determines 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. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. Another 20 were injured, which included keyboardist Billy Powell, guitarists Gary Rossington and Allen Collins, drummer Artimus Pyle and bassist Leon Wilkeson. Cassie Gaines was one of the band members who boarded the ill-fated flight. "Why, yes I do," I said, thinking about my roots, my old buddies and the high school dances. 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. ", "There were plenty of old boys standing around here. 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. When Aerosmith's crew heard of Skynyrd's misfortune, they were shocked, but not necessarily surprised. 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. Thats when most of the sober members of the band saw that the right propeller was no longer working. Dean Kilpatrick, the bands manager, lay dead and covered in blood. The aircraft crashed in a heavily wooded area during an attempted emergency landing. She was brought up in Miami, Florida, alongside her brothers, Bob and Steve. According to Powell, Cassie Gaines' final moments were particularly painful as she bled to death in his arms and that her throat had been cut from ear to ear, which gave more indications of execution than an accident. Martin said she then, "called 911, or 0, or whatever we called back then.". The reason is that just a few short days before some of the band members had reported seeing sparks a large as 10ft shooting out of the right engine. Cassie Gaines cause of death The talented singer met her death at the young age of 29. She began her career at a young age but has grown steadily over the years to become one of the best in Hollywood. That's when Mote connected the dots with the noise he had heard earlier. But I couldn't stand it any longer. He had already finished a film about the plane crash when Gary and several others stepped in and placed a lawsuit against the film to not be shown to the public. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. 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. The cover would quickly be changed to a more bland blacked-out background with the band in the same pose after the accident. The plane had a thinner fuselage and smaller wingspan than any of its kind at the time. He lifted one after another and shuffled them to others outside. ", But with no experience he morphed from a dairy farmer to a rescuer. A medical examiner said on Sunday that Wilkeson suffered from chronic liver and lung disease, and most likely died of natural causes. Artimus Pyle and Gary Rossington are the only two members alive today from the crash. Over the ridge, a World War II vintage Willis Jeep crawled down a dusty logging trail. He needed to use their darkroom to get his photos out. The band buckled in. Marc Frank remembers seeing complete and total despair. The album had a very controversial cover when released. He smiled broadly and said, "Turn it up! 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. Photo: Pinterest. 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. Marc Frank recalled hearing both engines on the plane then within a matter of minutes, just air passing over the cabin. Freebird, Lynyrd Skynyrd, 10/20/77 and a notebook-sized rebel flag are deeply etched into the old bark. Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash site draws a pilgrimage. 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. The original cover was restored after the 30th anniversary of the album. When he was sober, he was a fair and kind person. Small and cramped, it still felt better than lift-off of the Convair CV-240. But as my wife and I watched the news bulletins flash on TV, it was a big deal. Ronnie Van Zant was just more than the bands main songwriter, frontman, and singer. She died from excessive bleeding as her throat had been cut from ear to ear. Natural causes were to blame. Gene Odom, Lynyrd Skynyrds bodyguard, recalls: They took my watch, my wallet, my ring, and my money as I lay bleeding on the ground. The site is hard to access. All of the seats were ripped from the frame of the plane, landing in the front section of the crash. She was requested to join the band as a backing vocalist. Cassie Gaines Death: and Cause of Death. Lewis was on emergency room call that night at McComb's Southwest Regional Medical Center. Any debris left on the ground has long been buried. At the time of her death she survived by her large extended friends and family. He was only 39, but was no rookie. Tuesday October 20, 2015 marked the 38th anniversary and drew several veterans from the night of the crash. 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. "It was the saddest thing," she recalls, 11 years later. I photographed their wedding. One band member, JoJo Billingsly, was not on the flight. Rossington recalls saying It was always weird for Allen and me because we were up front in the plane. Lynyrd Skynyrd is a staple on rock, classic rock, and southern radio stations. At least one member, background singer Cassie Gaines, had refused to board the flight, but was convinced against her better judgment. When he was sober, he was a fair and kind person. 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. 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. She said her husband grabbed his .243 hunting rifle, ran out and fired a warning shot. He knew those woods well. 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. I was not there to be a gawker or to get in the way. It was there that he struck up a fractured conversation. The band has been on tour, and dates through the weekend have been cancelled. I told him that it was the strongest thing I had seen a man do.. On 20th October 1977, the Lynyrd Skynyrd boarded a chartered Convair CV-240 to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, after their performance in Greenville, South Carolina. The band decided that once they had landed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, they would acquire a Learjet to replace the severely outdated 30-year-old plane. It was there where he was found dead in his room on July 27. The accident essentially destroyed one of the unique voices of American rock and roll. 5 album. There is some speculation as to why the second engine had ultimately failed. When the group asked Ronnies father how he was, he simply replied Hes fine. The crash killed Ronnie Van Zant, Steve and Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, as well as pilot Walter McCreary and co-pilot William Gray. Rescue vehicles on the ground found no direct path in sight. The only thing left was a trail of debris and people. Mike Rounsaville also arrived in the jeep with Dr. Lewis. How do they know? It was Steve, and me, and Ronnie and I was in the middle of them. But we were both enjoying it. In 1977, lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Stevie Gaines and Gaines' sister, Cassie Gaines, were killed in a plane crash. My younger brother and I banged out "Freebird" on a cheap set of drums in our bedroom. In addition to his fractured ribcage, Artimus Pyle was treated for numerous abrasions and contusions. I was just taken aback by it " but then his friend continued, "don't worry, Lynyrd made it out.". 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. Although Steven Tyler and Joe Perry had insisted that they charter the plane, ultimately it was not signed to the band. Collins and other band members were severely injured. She was famous for being part of the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. 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. I quickly maneuvered free of a crumpled bumper and sped off. But soon, the helicopters that were heard and seen previously were on the scene. Aerosmiths band management at the time was looking at a Convair CV-240. 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.". Powell's nose had been nearly ripped from his face after crashing head first through a table. Also Known As: Cassie LaRue Gaines Died At Age: 29 Family: mother: Cassie LaRue Gaines Died Young Rock Singers Died on: October 20, 1977 place of death: Gillsburg, Mississippi, United States U.S. State: Oklahoma Cause of Death: Plane Crash Recommended Lists: American Celebrities Film & Theater Personalities American Women Women Singers The aircraft was destroyed by impact; there was no fire. He drove down from his home in Oakland, Miss. A Convair CV-240, similar to the one in the crash. Cassie Gaines was born on January 9, 1948 and died on October 20, 1977. His only help at that moment was his neighbor, Dwain Easley. It Crashed, Killing 3 Members, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Drinking, Fighting, Hell-Raising: The Classic Skynyrd Lineup In Pittsburgh, Associate Press Mississippi Road Signs For Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash Site, Hollywood Reporter Appeals Court Reverses Ban on Lynyrd Skynyrd Movie, Ronnie Van Zant Of Lynyrd Skynyrd Predicted His Own Death, Groove History, 1977 Missippi Convair CV-240 Plane Crash, Wikipedia, History Collection The Deadliest Plane Crash in Canada Killed 248 Soldiers in 1985, History Collection A Plane Crashed into the Empire State Building (1945). 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. Both brother and sister were killed in the airplane crash that also took the life of Lynyrd Skynyrd vocalist Ronnie Van Zant. Artimus Pyle emerged with several broken ribs, and bleeding everywhere you could. We always wondered why, you know. The surviving members would grapple with this throughout their days. She was planning to join the tour in Little Rock on October 23, three days after the crash. The Convair 240 itself had been inspected by members of Aerosmith's flight crew for possible use in the early summer of 1977, but was rejected because it was felt that neither the plane nor the crew were up to standards. Especially with the song That Smell. The album cover depicted the band members in an alleyway covered in flames. Over the weekend, the message boards on the official Web site were flooded with messages of lament for the "living legend," "free bird," and simple man.". "The first thing I saw was a bloody hand reaching out from the debris. It is possible that the damaged magneto fooled the pilots into creating an exceptionally rich fuel mixture, causing the Convair to run out of fuel. 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. Laying on the ground, still alive for only a moment, to slowly bleed to death. Allen Collins kept moving on, eventually getting together with Gary Rossington to form the Rossington Collins Band. He then assembled a convoy of trucks and four-wheelers to locate the crash site and rescue the survivors. But I loved the bonding. 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. Pilots Walter McCreary and William Gray were fully aware of a fuel shortage before the flight took off. Coincidence? He is best known as a guitarist and backing vocalist with rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd from 1976 until his death in the October 1977 airplane crash that claimed other band members and crew. "He didn't want to talk about it for years.". Thats when most of the sober members of the band saw that the right propeller was no longer working. He also knew I had no business there, but his face told me he knew I was beginning a new career that night. Some of the guys were playing poker. 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. We just had released an album that went gold almost overnight. "You like Lynyrd Skynyrd?" Collins entered the hospital with pneumonia symptoms and was in a coma the last few days, said longtime friend Ann Thompson. 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. Collect, curate and comment on your files. Ronnies mother Marion refused to make the flight, after seeing a horrific plane crash of her own that killed 9 people. Streamline your workflow with our best-in-class digital asset management system. By then, a Coast Guard helicopter was hovering overhead. 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. 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. You all just better get some rest. Dan Barnes recalls saying This man had just been to the funeral home and seen his son dead and decided to keep that to himself for these guys to heal. In the beginning, the singer was reluctant to board the aircraft and had already bought another commercial flight ticket. 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. 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. Violent, wild, and belligerent, Ronnie was a force to be reckoned with. We knew every word. Billy had taken too long on his intro to the song Free Bird and that didnt set well with Ronnie. Posted and no trespassing signs are prominently displayed. Millions of high-quality images, video, and music options are waiting for you. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, K-Pop isnt the only hot ticket in Koreatown how trot is captivating immigrants, Daisy Jones & the Six becomes the first fictional band to hit No. Tangled by underbrush and the 20-foot creek, the rescue team had to act and think fast. Tap into Getty Images' global scale, data-driven insights, and network of more than 340,000 creators to create content exclusively for your brand. Rossington recalls saying It was always weird for Allen and me because we were up front in the plane. The reason behind this? I admired his ability to tell gripping stories with his camera, so I began considering a career change. She was born on 9th January 1948 in Missouri, USA. News had spread about the crash and before too long an estimated 3,000 people had swarmed to the crash site. Mote fired a warning shot in the air. 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. The albums that followed featured a plain black background. Cassie was 29 years old at the time of death. "May the free bird fly on," read one message. 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. Van Zant, Steve and Cassie Gaines, Kilpatrick and the pilots were laid in a temporary morgue at a local high school gymnasium. Varying accounts have Mote either firing a warning shot into the air or actually shooting Pyle in the shoulder no report is completely reliable. Photo: thetv.info. Grow your brand authentically by sharing brand content with the internets creators. Johnny headed for the crash site to see if he could help. Lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines and singer Cassie Gaines were all killed in the crash, and the . And the hardest-working rock 'n' roll band in America was about to run out of gas. No discernable landmarks remained, save the creek bed. Guitarists Allen Collins and Steve Gaines, Honkette Leslie Hawkins, bassist Leon Wilkeson, Honkettes Cassie Gaines and JoJo Billingsley, and. Artimus Pyle and Gary Rossington are the only two members alive today from the crash. Gene Odom, Lynyrd Skynyrds bodyguard, recalls: They took my watch, my wallet, my ring, and my money as I lay bleeding on the ground. It was Dr. Hank Lewis, a month shy of 78-years-old. Powell's nose had been nearly ripped from his face after crashing head first through a table. Its many hit songs include "Freebird," "Sweet Home Alabama," "Gimme Three Steps" and "Simple Man.".