The Truth Behind The Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash

for many the name Leonard skynyrd instantly conjures up the day in 1977 when three band members died in a plane crash in the woods of Mississippi for Leonard Skynyrd fans that day was one of the most tragic in rock history here's the truth behind the Leonard Skynyrd plane crash on October 20th 1977 Leonard Skynyrd was skyrocketing to fame and had several new members on the start of a three-month tour to promote their new album Street survivors but they weren't exactly traveling in style the plane chosen for their tour was an old 1948 convair 240 a twin-engine prop that had already racked up over 29,000 flight hours it was shaky enough that earlier in the air Aerosmith had decided the plane was too dangerous to fly in still despite the protests of guitarist Alan Collins and head of security gene Odom Leonard Skinner decided to use it anyway with bandleader Ronnie Vanzant reportedly sane just before boarding if the Lord wants you to die on this plane when it's your time it's your time it would prove tragically prophetic the plane took off at 4:02 p.m. from Greenville South Carolina heading for Baton Rouge Louisiana with an estimated arrival time of 6:45 p.m. pilot Walter McCreary notified the flight tower that they had roughly five hours of fuel on board plenty for the flight but just a couple hours later while still over Mississippi McCreary contacted the air traffic control center in Houston saying they were out of fuel it was the last communication from the plane band members were playing cards will Vansant napped on the floor when the pilot suddenly alerted them that they were out of fuel drummer artimus pyle a pilot himself told everyone how to prepare for the crash while some reportedly panicked most just sat in silent prayer hoping for a safe landing 10 minutes later the plane went down in the trees near galesburg Mississippi keyboardist Billy Powell told the Orlando Sentinel I remember we started clipping those pine trees it felt like being rolled down a hill when a garbage can and being hit by about a hundred baseball bats at the same time the plane then impacted the ground and skidded another 140 feet the wings were torn off and the cockpit smashed into a tree killing McCreary and his copilot William Gray the fuselage broke off and the top of the plane tore open throwing people out Powell told Rolling Stone I crashed into a table people were hit by flying objects all over the plane the remains of the plane finally slid to a stop in a swampy wooded area Powell crawled out of the wreckage and saw that the fuselage cockpit wings and tail section were gone his nose he discovered was now hanging from the side of his face and bleeding profusely the musician sat on top of the airplane in shock crying before he heard bassist Leon Wilkinson calling for help I remember Leon screaming get me out of here Pyle also survived the crash his ribs quote sticking out of his chest along with roadie Ken Payton the three left the crash site seeking help they found it in the form of local farmer Johnny mode who originally thought the ragged men were escaped convicts before realizing the awful truth he told Rolling Stone one of them was hugging me around the neck and telling me we got to get them out but there was no help for pilots McCreary and gray band members ronnie van zant Steve Gaines and Cassie Gaines or assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick all six were killed on impact and the 20 survivors were in bad shape with Rolling Stone reporting that they endured shattered bones torn flesh lengthy hospitalizations and grueling rehabilitation zs-- fans were stunned as images of the crash began playing on news reports across the world you can't even realize seeing one of these things on television exactly what a crash of this magnitude looks like speculation on the cause of the crash immediately centered on the lack of fuel authorities still believe the plane ran out of gas but why didn't they put enough gas in the or was there a leak after a lengthy investigation the US National Transportation Safety Board released its official investigation nine separate findings were listed including statements that both engines on the plane quote ceased to produce power because the aircraft's usable fuel was exhausted and met the crew Walter McCreary and William gray quote failed to monitor adequately the fuel flow and route fuel consumption and fuel quantity gauges and also didn't take appropriate pre-flight action to ensure an adequate fuel supply but their mistakes were apparently compounded by a mechanical failure that caused one of the engines to burn through fuel much faster than normal that would explain why on another flight two days earlier Allen Collins witnessed the 10-foot flame shooting out of the right engine ironically Pyle told the Orlando Sentinel that during the tragic last flight the band had decided that going forward they would only fly on new planes we had decided to get a Learjet for the band a beautiful bus for the crew it was ridiculous for us to be on an old plane like that with the plane crash behind them it would take time for everyone involved with Leonard Skinner to recover five surviving band members alan collins billy powell gary rossington leon Wilkerson and artimus pyle suffered critical injuries from multiple broken bones to debilitating internal injuries it looked like the end of the band forever whether it be a Leonard Skynyrd after this I don't think so the first step in the recovery process was changing the album cover which originally showed crash victims Steve Gaines surrounded by fire but it was a long process and it wasn't until a decade later in 1987 that the surviving members of the band reunited first thing I want to do is bring out the survivors of our plane crash we have 10 years ago the band reform joined by a former guitarist for the group Edie King with Ronnie Van Zant's brother johnny van zant taking over as lead singer but there would still be more tragedies collins who was left paraplegic after a motorcycle accident in 1986 succumbed to pneumonia in 1990 wilkinson was found dead in his hotel room in 2001 and in 2009 Powell died of a heart attack that left rossington and Pyle has the only surviving members of the original band in October 2009 teen ronnie van zant widow judy van zant jenness joined others to dedicate a new monument at the crash site created with money from the Leonard Skynyrd Monument project which raised over $80,000 van zant jenness said it's been 42 years today since we lost Ronnie Steve Cassie and Dean but they will live on through the music of Leonard Skynyrd and all of the fans from around the world and 2020 promises to be a big year for the band a film about the tragic plane crash called Street survivors the true story of the Leonard Skynyrd plane crash is scheduled to be released in June the same month Leonard Skynyrd is planning to play their final concert ever at the end of their last of the street survivors 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Id: ZlbckYOy-mw

Length: 7min 55sec (475 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 27 2020