Oct 20, 1977 saw a plane crash that killed Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines, Dean Kilpatrick and the pilot and co-pilot, ripping the heart out of what Southern band?
Ronnie Van Zant Van Zant died on impact from head injuries suffered after the aircraft struck a tree. Bandmates Steve Gaines and Cassie Gaines, along with assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary, and co-pilot William Gray, were also killed. The rest of the band was seriously injured. Van Zant was 29 years old. According to former bandmate Artimus Pyle and family members, Van Zant frequently discussed his mortality. Pyle recalls a moment when Lynyrd Skynyrd was in Japan: "Ronnie and I were in Tokyo, Japan, and Ronnie told me that he would never live to see thirty and that he would
Cassie Gaines player to replace recently departed Ed King, Cassie recommended her younger brother, Steve, who joined the band soon after. On October 20, 1977, a Convair CV-240 carrying the band between shows from Greenville, South Carolina, to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, crashed outside of Gillsburg, Mississippi. 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. Gaines had initially refused to board the flight and was convinced by other members against her better judgment. Her hesitation was due to small fire on one of the engines the