Lynyrd Skynyrd Fatal Plane Crash: Remembering Members Who Died in Tragic Event

Lynyrd Skynyrd lost some of its founding members in a 1977 plane crash, and fans remembered them as the band continues its career even after the death of its last surviving original member, Gary Rossington.

Lynyrd Skynyrd underwent a major change in its lineup following the deaths of its members over the past years. But before it welcomed new members, it lost several bandmates in a horrifying plane crash.

Lynyrd Skynyrd's 1977 Plane Crash

The tragic event happened on October 20, 1997, when Lynyrd Skynyrd's members boarded Convair CV-240 aircraft amid its Street Survivors tour and flew from Greenville, S.C., en route to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

However, the plane never made it to its destination.

After refueling in Greenville, the aircraft started having mechanical issues during the flight, including engine complications and fuel gauge malfunction. The pilots realized that the 4000 gallons of 100-octane, low-lead fuel was not enough for the flight, leading them to fly toward McComb Airport - around 16 kilometers from the eventual crash site in Amite County, Mississippi.

Pilots tried to have an emergency landing in an open field around 270 meters from the crash location, but it soon collided with a large tree and shattered the aircraft.

Of 26 passengers, only 20 survived. The fatal crash claimed the lives of Lynyrd Skynyrd's lead singer and founding member Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines and backup singer Cassie Gaines.

The band's assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick succumbed in the accident; pilot Walter McCreary and co-pilot William Gray also died.

Meanwhile, Lynyrd Skynyrd members who survived were Rossington, Billy Powell, Artimus Pyle and Leon Wilkeson. All of which sustained lacerations, internal injuries and bone fractures.

"We Lost Great Musicians"

Lynyrd Skynyrd's security manager Gene Odom, who survived the crash, expressed his heartbreak decades after the accident.

"The crash took away one of the great American musicians," he told Fox News Digital in 2022. "It took from me a lifelong dear friend and fishing buddy."

The National Transportation Safety Board launched a probe into the crash and found out that the cause was the "crew's inattention to fuel supply."

"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," they said, per Forbes.

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