Apparently, Artimus had been quoted saying that Ronnie got up, went to the back of the plane and gave him a hippy handshake but Gene was quite persistent on the fact that it was complete bull. Everyone knows him as "Governor." As the three marched on, feet soaking wet from the water, all odds seemed stacked against the trio. Cassie was buried in Orange Park, Florida, together with her brother, Steve Gains. The band would be marked for strife as just before their inaugural tour, Allens wife would bleed to death due to a miscarriage. Cassie Gaines died on the 20 th of October, 1977 in a plane crash at Gillsburg, Mississippi when she was only 29 years old. I didn't know where this was going. You are already subscribed to our newsletter! This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Some of the guys were playing poker. With my camera at the ready, the translator and I stood watch on the prow of the brightly colored wooden boat as we plowed the exotic coastline. For members Gary Rossington and Allen Collins, the weight of what happened seemed to push down on them the most. Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash site draws a pilgrimage. Some were screaming and moaning for help, but they were all limp. He then assembled a convoy of trucks and four-wheelers to locate the crash site and rescue the survivors. Violent, wild, and belligerent, Ronnie was a force to be reckoned with. 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. But a message on the group's official Web site said the summer tour will resume on Aug. 7, in Spokane, Wash. Mike Rounsaville also arrived in the jeep with Dr. Lewis. I quickly maneuvered free of a crumpled bumper and sped off. That's when Mote connected the dots with the noise he had heard earlier. Other band members were injured, some very seriously. On the original pressing of the cover of Street Survivors was a photograph of the band engulfed in flames. Powells nose had been nearly ripped from his face after crashing head first through a table. 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. 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. Freebird, Lynyrd Skynyrd, 10/20/77 and a notebook-sized rebel flag are deeply etched into the old bark. I knew my camera had stories to tell. His first band recorded its debut at Sun Recording Studio in Memphis, and later bands included RIO Smokehouse and Rusty Day. (Photo by Ted Jackson). The guys hit the dirt and yelling out with what they had left Hey! 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. Lynyrd Skynyrd did not plan on keeping the plane for long. It was rumored that it was Ed Kings (original guitar player for Lynyrd Skynyrd) wife but it was not confirmed. 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. Over the ridge, a World War II vintage Willis Jeep crawled down a dusty logging trail. She died from excessive bleeding as her throat had been cut from ear to ear. ", He reached up and pealed the split fuselage back and, with a flashlight, peered into the dark, jumbled mess of bodies. Skynyrd Crash Survivor Allen Collins Dies, 37 - Los Angeles Times It wasn't a Cessna; it was a Convair CV 240, a twin engine, 40-passenger plane that was down in heavy woods near Gillsburg. He was the New Orleans-based photographer for the Associated Press Jack Thornell, known for his Pulitzer Prize winning photo of civil rights leader James Meredith. It would take hours to remove the bodies of the dead and injured from the plane. We love you!!!" There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. 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. One of them being completely decapitated. Updated cover after plane crash, 1977The official NTSB accident report reads, "The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause of this accident was fuel exhaustion and total loss of power from both engines due to crew inattention to fuel supply. Ronnies mother Marion refused to make the flight, after seeing a horrific plane crash of her own that killed 9 people. 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. Things were going so well. He suffered a heart attack . Your IP: Steve Gaines was killed instantly upon impact and his sister Cassie Gaines perished as well. A design that would most likely lead to the infamous crash. And to Brenda's point, he's writing a book. There are just too few physical landmarks. It was the last flight of Lynyrd Skynyrd: Oct. 20, 1977, the night they . ", Other questions:subscriberservices@theadvocate.com. Willing to lend a hand and stick by his bandmates, he was hard to beat when standing by your side. I threw it in reverse and plowed into my mother-in-law's car. 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. Dean Kilpatrick, the bands manager, lay dead and covered in blood. At the beginning of the flight, all was well, amid high tensions. Photo: Pinterest. Especially Artimus, who had three broken ribs and multiple large cuts. On October 20, 1977, Cassie Gaines died of non-communicable disease. Laying on the ground, still alive for only a moment, to slowly bleed to death. Her brother was Skynyrd guitarist Steve Gaines. The plane killed three band members (Ronnie Van Zant, Cassie, Steve Gaines) and Dean Kilpatrick (assistant road manager), Walter McCreary (pilot), and William Gray (co-pilot). "Steve was at the peak of his career. Marc Frank was beaten terribly and was also covered in lacerations and blood. Marc Frank recalled hearing both engines on the plane then within a matter of minutes, just air passing over the cabin. 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. I marked my calendar and made arrangements. I grabbed my camera and jumped in the car. Billy Powell would be in the new starting line-up of Lynyrd Skynyrd until his death in 2009. The three injured men hiked some distance from the crash site, through swampy woods, and finally flagged down farmer Johnny Mote, who had come to investigate. That farm belonged to a young dairy farmer named Johnny Mote. ", "There were plenty of old boys standing around here. ", "And everybody says they were the first one there. Stinky! He knew those woods well. Turns out that Cassie didn't want to board that particular flight and had blatantly refused to travel on that plane. The famous music band Lynyrd Skynyrd is considered to have one of the most gruesome band histories after losing several people in an aerial accident. We were all fans. "We didn't know how much gas was on the ground. Millions of high-quality images, video, and music options are waiting for you. Wilkeson cheated death in 1977, surviving a crash of the band's chartered plane. Cassie Gaines - Bio, Personal Life, Family & Cause Of Death - CelebsAges He says he first came in the 80s after he graduated. Original cover for Street Survivors, 1977Notably, the third member of The Honkettes, JoJo Billingsley, was not on the plane and in fact was home tending to a family member's illness. Gary continues on the band with Ronnies brother, Johnny Van Zant, and guitarist Ricky Medlocke. 2023 Getty Images. And the hardest-working rock 'n' roll band in America was about to run out of gas. The next morning I looked over them, made a few small prints and forgot about them. 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. The reason behind this? She was requested to join the band as a backing vocalist. The pilots would have to make an emergency landing. Cassie Gaines Birthday and Date of Death. Ronnie Van Zant, drunk and laying in the middle of the aisle, simply pulled himself together, sat up, and quietly chose a seat up front. Coincidence? The pilots were still in their seats, but were laying upside down in nearby trees. Killing three members of Lynyrd Skynyrd: Apparently in - thevintagenews July 30, 2001 -- Leon Wilkeson, bass player and founding member of Lynyrd Skynyrd, is dead at age 49. Everyone on the flight, except for Ronnie Van Zant, was feeling uneasy and restless. Varying accounts have Mote either firing a warning shot into the air or actually shooting Pyle in the shoulder no report is completely reliable. Three crew members died in a plane crash just three days after the release of their 5th album. I used my camera in my work. Natural causes were to blame. We'd move one and there would be another one laying there." Allen Collins kept moving on, eventually getting together with Gary Rossington to form the Rossington Collins Band. Buker had noticed the flight crew passing around liquor bottles while aboard the plane. The events before the plane crash are perhaps the most bone-chilling ones you'd ever hear. Willing to lend a hand and stick by his bandmates, he was hard to beat when standing by your side. 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. Rock Musician. Birthday: January 9, 1948. We just had released an album that went gold almost overnight. Cassie Gaines Wiki, Biography, Age, Career, Relationship, Net Worth One band member, JoJo Billingsly, was not on the flight. Powells nose had been nearly ripped from his face after crashing head first through a table. Artimus Pyle was also notoriously outspoken against the plane and on several occasions would take buses to shows. As the three marched on, feet soaking wet from the water, all odds seemed stacked against the trio. "May the free bird fly on," read one message. The pilots were still in their seats, but were laying upside down in nearby trees. Ronnie Van Zant, drunk and laying in the middle of the aisle, simply pulled himself together, sat up, and quietly chose a seat up front. However, they were apparently talked into using it just one more time which happened to be their last ride. It would also be the first album that guitarist Steve Gaines would be the sole guitar player on. Don't look like they can afford a ticket. I began the classic guitar lick. For another crash scene veteran, this was also his first return visit in 38 years. Lynyrd Skynyrd pose for a portrait circa 1976. Cassie Gaines Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images 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. But there wasn't any gas on the ground because they ran out of gas.". Some blame it on the planes age and poor design, weighing in on its smaller fuselage and compact wingspan. He had hunted squirrels along that very ridge. Throughout the ordeal, he remembers seeing the debris and suitcases scattered around, but he didn't think anything of it. Steve Gaines was killed instantly upon impact and his sister Cassie Gaines perished as well. 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. Cassie Gaines (1948-1977) - Find a Grave Memorial Ultimate Classic Rock What Happened to the Survivors of the Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash? As he looked around the scene, his mind went back. A costly mistake at 9,000ft or so. The news was shocking -- a plane crash near my hometown of McComb, Miss. Marc Frank remembers seeing complete and total despair. After claiming his deceased son, Lacy Van Zant went to visit the other members of the band at the hospital. ", "He came home covered in blood," said his wife, Lola. I told him that it was the strongest thing I had seen a man do.. 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. Aerosmiths management passed on the opportunity to call this plane their own. Band members Artimus Pyle and Billy Powell entered the cockpit to get an idea of what was happening. Cassie Gaines Death Fact Check, Birthday & Date of Death - Dead or Kicking For members Gary Rossington and Allen Collins, the weight of what happened seemed to push down on them the most. 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. Marc Frank, a 24-year-old roadie traveling with the band, noticed what seemed to be fuel spewing from the right engine. That farm belonged to a young dairy farmer named Johnny Mote. 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. Cloudflare Ray ID: 7a2fad0cc830fa72 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. Born Steven Earl Gaines, the son of Cassie Hatfield and Earl Gaines. My younger brother and I banged out "Freebird" on a cheap set of drums in our bedroom. It is reported that the pilots whose eyes were full of terror, told them to go back to their seats and prepare for impact. "Are you writing a book?" Cassie Gaines Wikipedia; Sponsored Links. But one thing I'm proud of. He was a walking treasure trove of names, facts and figures. As the bulletins continued, they became more descriptive: "Tractors were pulling ambulances across a creek" was one exaggerated quote I remember so well. What injuries did Cassie Gaines die from? Collins recovered and began performing again, eventually forming the Allen Collins Band. Here are 10 facts about Lynyrd Skynyrd and their fateful end. Wilkeson would eventually be found dead in a hotel room in 2001 at age 49. 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. 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. I had a small studio, making a living mostly painting signs for local businesses. 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. Circa 1975, Singers Cassie Gaines , Leslie Hawkins and Jo Jo Billingsley of the American rock group, Lynyrd Skynyrd, 1970s. Toxicology tests were also ordered to determine whether there were drugs in his system at the time. Any debris left on the ground has long been buried. He would eventually succumb to paralytic pneumonia while being treated in a hospital in 1990. 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. 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. "I've been coming for years," he said, "and I've never met anyone who was here that night. These combinations of poorly built aircraft and less than acceptable crew quickly led to the dismissal of the band leasing out their services. Soon after the plane would begin to jerk and shake violently. Get the news that matters from one of the leading news sites in Ghana, UN development chief sounds alarm over debt distress, Texas: Wind and solar stake claim to land of oil, Couple loses GH 300,000 on their wedding after guests don't show up: "So heartbroken", "Rest Well": Thomas Partey pays tribute to Christian Atsu as she scores in Arsenal's 3-2 win over Bournemouth, Hard guy dey cry: Sulley Muntari sheds tears at Christian Atsu's 1-week observance, Richard Kingston consoles him in sad video, 150+ Sad messages: ideas to express your deepest feelings in 2022, What happened to Jade Castrinos after Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, List of American foods for breakfast, lunch and dinner that you will love, 80+ Juice WRLD's quotes and lyrics about love, life, success and heartbreak.