1977 Mississippi CV - 240 crash - wikipedia 1977 Mississippi CV - 240 crash Convair 240 N55VM crash A Convair CV - 240 similar to the accident aircraft Accident Date October 20, 1977 18 : 52 ( CST ) Summary Fuel exhaustion ( pilot error ) Site Heavily - wooded swamp, Amite County, Mississippi, five miles ( 8 km ) northeast of Gillsburg 31 ° 04 ′ 19 '' N 90 ° 35 ′ 56 '' W ﻿ / ﻿ 31.072 ° N 90.599 ° W ﻿ / 31.072 ; - 90.599 Coordinates : 31 ° 04 ′ 19 '' N 90 ° 35 ′ 56 '' W ﻿ / ﻿ 31.072 ° N 90.599 ° W ﻿ / 31.072 ; - 90.599 Aircraft Aircraft type Convair CV - 240 Operator L & J Company of Addison, Texas Registration N55VM Flight origin Greenville Downtown Airport ( South Carolina ) Stopover McComb - Pike County Airport, Pike County, Mississippi ( emergency attempt ) Destination Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport ( Louisiana ) Occupants 26 Passengers 24 Crew Fatalities 6 Survivors 20 crash site Greenville Baton Rouge Locations in the United States On October 20, 1977, a Convair CV - 240 passenger aircraft ran out of fuel and crashed near Gillsburg, Mississippi. Chartered by the rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd from L&J Company of Addison, Texas, it was near the end of its flight from Greenville, South Carolina, to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Lead vocalist / founding member Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist / vocalist Steve Gaines, backing vocalist Cassie Gaines ( Steve 's older sister ), assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary, and co-pilot William Gray all died as a result of the crash ; 20 others survived. Contents 1 Crash 1.1 Rescue 2 Cause 3 Legacy 4 References 5 Further reading 6 External links Crash On October 20, 1977, three days after releasing their album Street Survivors, Lynyrd Skynyrd 's chartered Convair CV - 240 airplane ran out of fuel near the end of their flight from South Carolina to Louisiana. The band had just performed at the Greenville Memorial Auditorium and were to play at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. Upon realizing that the plane had insufficient fuel, the pilots were going to attempt an emergency landing on a small rural airstrip. Despite their efforts, they did not make it and the plane crashed in a wooded area near Gillsburg, Mississippi. Lead singer / founding member Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist / vocalist Steve Gaines, backing vocalist Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary, and copilot William Gray all died in the crash. Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1977 Cassie had been so fearful of flying in the Convair that she had preferred to travel in the band 's cramped equipment truck instead, but Van Zant convinced her to board the plane on October 20. Keyboard player Billy Powell 's nose was nearly torn off as he suffered severe facial lacerations and deep lacerations to his right leg. Decades later, Powell gave a lurid account of the flight 's final moments on a VH1 Behind The Music special. He said Van Zant, who was n't wearing a seat belt, was thrown violently from his seat and died immediately when his head impacted a tree as the plane broke apart. Some elements of Powell 's version of the events, however, have been disputed by both drummer Artimus Pyle and Van Zant 's widow Judy Van Zant Jenness, who posted the autopsy reports on the band 's web site in early 1998 to `` set the record straight '', while essentially confirming Powell 's account. Pyle suffered broken ribs but managed to leave the crash site and notify a nearby resident. Another member of the band 's trio of back - up singers ( collectively known as the `` Honkettes '' ), JoJo Billingsley, was not on the plane ; she was home sick and planned to join the tour in Little Rock, Arkansas, on October 23. Billingsley said that she had dreamed of the plane crash and begged guitarist / founding member Allen Collins by telephone not to continue using the Convair. It was later discovered that the very same aircraft had earlier been inspected by members of Aerosmith 's flight crew for possible use in their 1977 American tour, but it was rejected because it was felt that neither the plane nor the crew were up to standards. Aerosmith 's assistant chief of flight operations, Zunk Buker, told of observing pilots McCreary and Gray sharing a bottle of Jack Daniel 's while he and his father inspected the plane. Aerosmith 's touring family were quite shaken after receiving word of the crash, as Steven Tyler and Joe Perry had pressured their management into renting that specific plane for use on their tour. The doomed flight of October 20, 1977 was intended to be the last Lynyrd Skynyrd would make on the Convair CV - 240. `` We were flying in a plane that looked like it belonged to the Clampett family, '' said Pyle, and the band had decided that their status as one of the world 's top rock acts warranted an upgrade. After arriving in Baton Rouge, the band planned on acquiring a Learjet to replace the 30 - year - old plane, which all in the band 's circle agreed was well past its prime. `` 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. Contributing to the fuel exhaustion were inadequate flight planning and an engine malfunction of undetermined nature in the right engine which resulted in `` torching '' and higher - than - normal fuel consumption. '' -- NTSB Accident Report On the American Top 40 show of February 25, 1978, Casey Kasem reported that musical act LeBlanc & Carr had been bumped from the ill - fated flight. The bands were touring together, and last - minute changes prevented the duo from boarding the plane after initially being offered seats. Rescue Rescuers had to cross a 20 - foot - wide, waist - deep creek and dig through an overgrown forest, while digging out rescue vehicles that got stuck in the mud. Local individuals worked with rescue officials and drove victims to the hospital in the back of pick - up trucks. One local resident recalled `` I found someone on the ground alive. When I walked to the other side of the plane, I tripped on another person. '' Another resident commended the actions of all those that helped, and highlighted that, `` Some of them were out on that highway directing traffic. Some of them went home and got tractors. My wife was home on a CB radio. I 'm relaying messages on CB to her, 10 miles away. '' Cause Powell, among others, spoke of seeing flames shooting out of the plane 's right engine during a flight just days before the crash. The subsequent NTSB report listed `` an engine malfunction of undetermined nature '' in that same engine as a contributing factor in the crash Pyle told Howard Stern years later in an interview that the fuel gauge in the older - model plane was known to malfunction and the pilots had neglected to manually check the tanks before taking off. In his book Lynyrd Skynyrd : Remembering the Free Birds of Southern Rock, Gene Odom comes to the conclusion that Gray was potentially impaired and had been observed using cocaine the previous evening ; however, toxicology reports from both pilots ' autopsies found no traces of alcohol or other drugs. `` Crew inattention to fuel supply '' was ultimately determined to be responsible for the crash. After the accident, the NTSB removed, inspected, and tested the right engine 's ignition magneto and found it to be operating normally, concluding, `` No mechanical or electrical discrepancies were found during the examination of the right magneto. '' The inspection also determined that, `` All of the fuel cross-feed and fuel dump valves were in the closed position. '' Legacy The band 's record label MCA replaced the album cover of the Street Survivors album as it showed the band surrounded by flames. The location of the crash has turned into a memorial for fans, rescuers and survivors with an oak tree that has been carved with Lynyrd Skynyrd iconography, the site was also the location of a 40th Anniversary memorial by survivors and rescuers. In 2017, surviving members of the band and family of those that died in the crash filled a lawsuit to block production and distribution of a film entitled Street Survivor : The True Story of the Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash. The dispute stemmed from a `` blood oath '' that was reportedly taken after the crash by survivors to never use the name Lynyrd Skynyrd again in an effort not to capitalize on the tragedy that had befallen the group. References ^ Jump up to : `` U.S. National Transportation Safety Board 1978 '' ( PDF ). ^ Jump up to : ASN Aircraft accident Convair CV - 240 N55VM Gillsburg, MS ; Retrieved 9 / 3 / 11 ^ Jump up to : Gwinn, John ( October 22, 1977 ). `` Why did plane run out of fuel ? ''. Spartanburg Herald - Journal. ( South Carolina ). p. B1. ^ Jump up to : `` Rock band leader, five others killed in charter plane crash ''. Eugene Register - Guard. ( Oregon ). UPI. October 21, 1977. p. 3A. Jump up ^ `` Airplane crash kills members of rock band ''. The Bulletin. ( Bend, Oregon ). Associated Press. October 21, 1977. p. 8. ^ Jump up to : Pat Adams ; Jaquelyn Cooper ( October 20, 2017 ). `` The Tragic Plane Crash that Happened on October 20, 1977 in Gillsburg Mississippi ''. TennesseeConcerts.com. Retrieved November 25, 2017. ^ Jump up to : Brant 2002, p. 151. Jump up ^ Brant 2002, p. 155. Jump up ^ Brant 2002, p. 147. Jump up ^ Davis 1997, p. 304. ^ Jump up to : `` Lynyrd Skynyrd 's Plane Crashes in Rural Mississippi ''. Mississippi Memories. Retrieved November 25, 2017. Jump up ^ Jordan Runtagh. `` Remembering Lynyrd Skynyrd 's Deadly 1977 Plane Crash ''. Rolling Stone, October 20, 2017. Accessed October 27, 2017. Jump up ^ `` Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash was 35 years ago ''. NBC News. Retrieved 2018 - 08 - 23. ^ Jump up to : `` The night Lynyrd Skynyrd fell from the sky ''. The Clarion Ledger. Retrieved 2018 - 08 - 23. Jump up ^ Odom, Gene ( October 1, 2003 ). `` 10 - Reflections and Renewal ''. Lynyrd Skynyrd : Remembering the Free Birds of Southern Rock. Broadway Books. p. 184. ISBN 0 - 7679 - 1027 - 3. Jump up ^ `` The legacy of Lynyrd Skynyrd, 40 years after plane crash tragedy ''. Retrieved 2018 - 08 - 23. Jump up ^ `` Lynyrd Skynyrd Members Head to Trial Over Plane Crash Movie ''. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2018 - 08 - 23. Further reading Brant, Marley ( 2002 ). Freebirds : The Lynyrd Skynyrd Story. Billboard Books. ISBN 0 - 8230 - 8321 - 7. Retrieved 2008 - 10 - 18. Davis, Stephen ( 1997 ). Walk This Way : The Autobiography of Aerosmith. HarperCollins. ISBN 0 - 380 - 97594 - 7. Retrieved 2008 - 10 - 18. External links The Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash Check-Six.com -- Lynyrd Skynyrd 's Crash -- includes full crew and passenger list Gillsburg, MS Plane Crash Kills Lynyrd Skynyrd Band Members, Oct 1977 Official Lynyrd Skynyrd website Official Lynyrd Skynyrd History site Lynyrd Skynyrd Gary Rossington Rickey Medlocke Johnny Van Zant Michael Cartellone Mark Matejka Peter Keys Keith Christopher Ronnie Van Zant Allen Collins Bob Burns Larry Junstrom Greg T. Walker Leon Wilkeson Billy Powell Ed King Artimus Pyle Steve Gaines Owen Hale Hughie Thomasson Kenny Aronoff Ean Evans Robert Kearns Johnny Colt Studio albums ( Pronounced ' Lĕh - ' nérd ' Skin - ' nérd ) Second Helping Nuthin ' Fancy Gimme Back My Bullets Street Survivors Lynyrd Skynyrd 1991 The Last Rebel Endangered Species Twenty Edge of Forever Christmas Time Again Vicious Cycle God & Guns Last of a Dyin ' Breed Live albums One More from the Road Southern by the Grace of God Lyve from Steel Town Lynyrd Skynyrd Lyve : The Vicious Cycle Tour Live from Freedom Hall Compilations Skynyrd 's First and... Last Gold & Platinum Best of the Rest Legend Skynyrd 's Innyrds Lynyrd Skynyrd ( Box Set ) A Retrospective What 's Your Name Old Time Greats The Essential Lynyrd Skynyrd Skynyrd 's First : The Complete Muscle Shoals Album 20th Century Masters : The Best of Lynyrd Skynyrd Solo Flytes All Time Greatest Hits Collectybles Then and Now Thyrty Then and Now Volume Two Greatest Hits Icon Video Freebird... The Movie Lyve From Steel Town Lynyrd Skynyrd Lyve : The Vicious Cycle Tour Live from Freedom Hall Singles `` Need All My Friends '' `` Gimme Three Steps '' / `` Mr. Banker '' `` Do n't Ask Me No Questions '' / `` Take Your Time '' `` Sweet Home Alabama '' `` Free Bird '' `` Saturday Night Special '' / `` Made in the Shade '' `` Double Trouble '' `` Gimme Back My Bullets '' / `` All I Can Do Is Write About It '' `` Gimme Three Steps ( Live ) '' `` What 's Your Name '' / `` I Know A Little '' `` You Got That Right '' `` Truck Drivin ' Man '' `` Swamp Music '' `` Smokestack Lightning '' `` Preacher Man '' `` Red White & Blue ( Love it or Leave ) '' `` Still Unbroken '' Other songs `` Tuesday 's Gone '' `` Simple Man '' `` Things Goin ' On '' `` Saturday Night Special '' `` That Smell '' Tours Pronounced ' Lĕh - ' nérd ' Skin - ' nérd Tour Second Helping Tour Nuthin ' Fancy Tour Gimme Back My Bullets Tour One More From The Road Tour Street Survivors Tour Lynyrd Skynyrd Tribute Tour Lynyrd Skynyrd 1991 Tour The Last Rebel Tour Lynyrd Skynyrd Twenty Tour Edge of Forever Tour Vicious Cycle Tour Rebels and Bandoleros Tour Spin - off bands Rossington Collins Band The Rossington Band Allen Collins Band Artimus Pyle Band Van Zant Related articles Discography Band Members Skynyrd Frynds 1977 Mississippi CV - 240 crash Ronnie Van Zant Memorial Park Leonard Skinner `` All Summer Long '' ← 1976 Aviation accidents and incidents in 1977 ( 1977 ) 1978 → Jan 5 Connellan air disaster Jan 13 Aeroflot Flight 3843 Jan 13 JAL Cargo Flight 8054 Jan 15 Linjeflyg Flight 618 Feb 15 Aeroflot Flight 5003 Mar 17 British Airtours Boeing 707 crash Mar 27 Tenerife airport disaster Apr 4 Southern Airways Flight 242 Apr 12 Delta Air Lines Flight 1080 Apr 27 Aviateca Convair 240 crash May 10 Israeli CH - 53 crash May 14 Dan - Air Boeing 707 crash May 27 Aeroflot Flight 331 Jul 10 Aeroflot Tupolev Tu - 134 hijacking Jul 20 Aeroflot Flight 2 Aug 1 Gary Powers helicopter crash Sep 27 Japan Airlines Flight 715 Sep 27 Yokohama F - 4 crash Sep 28 Japan Airlines Flight 472 Oct 13 Lufthansa Flight 181 Oct 20 Mississippi CV - 240 crash Nov 19 TAP Portugal Flight 425 Dec 2 Benghazi Libyan Arab Airlines Tu - 154 crash Dec 4 Malaysian Airline System Flight 653 Dec 13 Air Indiana Flight 216 Dec 17 United Airlines Flight 2860 Dec 18 SA de Transport Aérien Flight 730 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1977_Mississippi_CV-240_crash&oldid=856318172 '' Categories : Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in 1977 Aviation accidents and incidents in Mississippi Accidents and incidents involving the Convair CV - 240 family Amite County, Mississippi Lynyrd Skynyrd 1977 in Mississippi 1977 events in the United States October 1977 events Talk Contents About Wikipedia Italiano Norsk Русский Edit links This page was last edited on 24 August 2018, at 11 : 10 ( UTC ). 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Question: who was killed in lynyrd skynyrd plane crash
Answer: Ronnie Van Zant