Click to reveal You all just better get some rest. Dan Barnes recalls saying This man had just been to the funeral home and seen his son dead and decided to keep that to himself for these guys to heal. Allen Collins, who lost fellow members of the rock group Lynyrd Skynyrd in a 1977 plane crash and was paralyzed four years ago in a drunken driving accident, died Tuesday of pneumonia. Victims were taken to the hospital in McComb, Mississippi by ambulances and other vehicles. I'm still not sure why. Artimus Pyle was also notoriously outspoken against the plane and on several occasions would take buses to shows. Allen Collins, another guitar player for the group, had cracked two vertebrae, and the cut to his right arm was so severe, that it almost required amputation. His only help at that moment was his neighbor, Dwain Easley. Everyone just stood there helpless. Identification was completely hindered as there had been a poker game going on during the flight, and everyones wallets and purses had been strewn throughout the swamp. Born Steven Earl Gaines, the son of Cassie Hatfield and Earl Gaines. I marked my calendar and made arrangements. ", But with no experience he morphed from a dairy farmer to a rescuer. He was only 39, but was no rookie. Ronnie Van Zant enjoying a stog before a show. He had already finished a film about the plane crash when Gary and several others stepped in and placed a lawsuit against the film to not be shown to the public. 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. According to an interview in the book Freebirds, Billingsley had dreamed of the plane crash and begged Allen Collins by telephone not to continue using the Convair. A tragic scene no person would ever wish to see or soon forget. On hearing of the accident, Billingsley was so shaken that some of her hair fell out. We were shocked, as were most others hearing the news. Artimus Pyle once said they were flying in a plane that he believed belonged to the Clampett family (they were the family from the Beverly Hillbillies, a family notorious for using pieced together equipment.). Lynyrd Skynyrd stops for a shot in 1973. Billy Powell, the bands keyboardist, received extensive facial lacerations and a broken right knee. 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. It would take hours to remove the bodies of the dead and injured from the plane. Thats when most of the sober members of the band saw that the right propeller was no longer working. It would take hours to remove the bodies of the dead and injured from the plane. We'd move one and there would be another one laying there." Powell's nose had been nearly ripped from his face after crashing head first through a table. We love you!!!" Wilkeson would play in both Rossington Collins Band and the Allen Collins band. Any debris left on the ground has long been buried. Cassie Gaines Wikipedia; Sponsored Links. Artimus Pyle emerged with several broken ribs, and bleeding everywhere you could. Part of the preparations required contacting landowners and securing permission to be there and a guide to lead me in. Pyle maintains in the Howard Stern interview that the fuel gauge in the older model plane malfunctioned and the pilots had failed to manually check the tanks before taking off. The plane had a thinner fuselage and smaller wingspan than any of its kind at the time. The death of Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, and Cassie Gains of the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd was a massive blow to many. Ronnie had died instantly upon impact, his head slamming into a tree. 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. Tangled by underbrush and the 20-foot creek, the rescue team had to act and think fast. Everyone on the flight, except for Ronnie Van Zant, was feeling uneasy and restless. Cassie was 29 years old at the time of death. Dean Kilpatrick, the bands manager, lay dead and covered in blood. One band member, JoJo Billingsly, was not on the flight. Pyle, Frank, and Peden were met with hostility when they finally came up to Mote. Gary Rossington, one of the bands guitar players, had suffered two broken arms, a broken leg, a punctured stomach and liver. We had a friendly translator whose command of the English language was poor at best. Billy had taken too long on his intro to the song Free Bird and that didnt set well with Ronnie. It was known that the right engine's magneto a small power generator that provides spark and timing for the engine had been malfunctioning (Powell, among others, spoke of seeing flames shooting out of the right engine on a trip just prior to the accident), and that pilots McCreary and Gray had intended to repair the damaged part when the travelling party arrived in Baton Rouge. It felt like being hit with baseball bats in a steel garbage can with the lid on. I knew I could take photographs if I could get there. 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. ", "He came home covered in blood," said his wife, Lola. I dont know who you think we are but we were on a plane and the plane crashed out there on the other side of that cow pasture. Mote instantly connected the dots to the sound he heard earlier and the men that lay before him. Gene Odom, Lynyrd Skynyrds bodyguard, recalls: They took my watch, my wallet, my ring, and my money as I lay bleeding on the ground. As a member of the Civil Air Patrol on that fateful night, he heard the report of a plane crash over the citizens band radio. Everyone just stood there helpless. The whole scene tore him apart. Among them were Lacy Van Zant, Ronnies Father, and .38 Specials Guitarist Dan Barnes. Powells nose had been nearly ripped from his face after crashing head first through a table. 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. As we walked, Easely pointed to a towering pine. I didn't know where this was going. One guy standing near the wreckage lit a cigarette and I tackled him," he said. Almost as mysteriously, the full bottle is never seen again. As the three marched on, feet soaking wet from the water, all odds seemed stacked against the trio. Cassie joined the team and became one of the three members of The Honkette's, a female gospel vocal trio of Lynyrd Skynyrd. He obtained his first guitar at about age 14. Then on the other side, it was Allen in the middle of Dean and Cassie. He had hunted squirrels along that very ridge. Leslie Hawkins sustained a concussion, broke her neck in three places and had severe facial lacerations. For members Gary Rossington and Allen Collins, the weight of what happened seemed to push down on them the most. Natural causes were to blame. she asked me as we talked. Grow your brand authentically by sharing brand content with the internets creators. How do they know? In 1982 he would form the Allen Collins band but shortly after would wreck his new Ford Thunderbird, killing his then girlfriend and paralyzing Collins. Cassie Gaines, Steve Gainess sister who were both bound for death in the crash, would routinely ride on the equipment bus rather than the plane. 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. But soon, the helicopters that were heard and seen previously were on the scene. Artimus Pyle emerged with several broken ribs, and bleeding everywhere you could. Laying on the ground, still alive for only a moment, to slowly bleed to death. The news was shocking -- a plane crash near my hometown of McComb, Miss. Billy Powell would be in the new starting line-up of Lynyrd Skynyrd until his death in 2009. Pyle did confirm (from Pyle's interview on the The Howard Stern Show on Sirius Satellite Radio, Feb. 12, 2007) that Van Zant's cause of death was trauma to the head caused by equipment, such as Betamax tapes and Trinitrons, flying forward in the plane's cabin. Collins began his rise to success as the lightning-fingered guitarist for the Jacksonville band formed in 1966 by a group of high school students. As they, too, were succumbing to the sub-par standards of the plane and crew. 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." ", "I never cared about flying in an airplane," he said. I put them all to work. I would like to think that only one grave robber was involved, but so many items were missing that I have to believe otherwise. It was as if they were back in Noahs time and all but a select few were stricken with greed of mankind and the chance to capitalize on an easy opportunity. But one thing I'm proud of. Buker had noticed the flight crew passing around liquor bottles while aboard the plane. 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. Sit down. The plane had taken off with a faulty gasoline gauge that fooled the pilots into thinking that the plane was equipped with the appropriate amount of gas to reach their destination. "He (Mote) ran in the door saying, 'Ya'll get down on the floor, there's escaped convicts out there," Martin remembers. It is reported that the pilots whose eyes were full of terror, told them to go back to their seats and prepare for impact. (Photo by Ted Jackson). It is reported that the pilots whose eyes were full of terror, told them to go back to their seats and prepare for impact. The original cover was restored after the 30th anniversary of the album. Gary continues on the band with Ronnies brother, Johnny Van Zant, and guitarist Ricky Medlocke. I knew I had no business going, and my wife told me so. I grabbed my camera and jumped in the car. A few minutes later I was talking my way past a Mississippi State trooper. The accident essentially destroyed one of the unique voices of American rock and roll. Things were going so well. One such silent witness has found a way to talk. The band regularly has different people sit in and play shows with them like Warren Haynes and Dicky Betts. He was more in the image I was pre-visualizing - one of an aging rocker. 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. Cassie Gaines cause of death The talented singer met her death at the young age of 29. Varying accounts have Mote either firing a warning shot into the air or actually shooting Pyle in the shoulder no report is completely reliable. 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. As the bulletins continued, they became more descriptive: "Tractors were pulling ambulances across a creek" was one exaggerated quote I remember so well. Pyle, Frank, and Peden were met with hostility when they finally came up to Mote. A little after the two-hour mark, however, events started to unfold that would soon make history. Photo: hu.wikipedia.com. Artimus Pyle emerged with several broken ribs, and bleeding everywhere you could. It felt like being hit with baseball bats in a steel garbage can with the lid on. The tail section broke off, the cockpit broke off and buckled underneath, then both wings broke off. The band would be marked for strife as just before their inaugural tour, Allens wife would bleed to death due to a miscarriage. In 1995, while on assignment in Phunket Thailand for the Times-Picayune's series "Oceans of Trouble," I boarded a small fantail fishing boat on the edges of the Andaman Sea with writer John McQuaid to photograph the disappearing mangroves. Suffocating the people on the bottom from the sheer weight. In the ensuing chaos, souvenir hunters took billfolds, jewelry, suitcases, band merchandise and even chunks of metal from the crash site. Cassie Gaines was one of the band members who boarded the ill-fated flight. He remembered seeing bodies everywhere. Rossington recalls saying It was always weird for Allen and me because we were up front in the plane. Billy Powell would be in the new starting line-up of Lynyrd Skynyrd until his death in 2009. It was Dr. Hank Lewis, a month shy of 78-years-old. Collins, 37, suffered respiratory failure, said a Memorial Medical Center spokeswoman. Despite this faux pas, Powell has been on good terms with the remaining band members since the incident. But I couldn't stand it any longer. "It was stuff I'd been trained to do," he said. There were 26 people on that fateful flight. [2] She is famous for starring in Saved by the Bell: The New Class, Goode Behavior, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and The Secret Life of the American Teenager. Rossington and keyboardist Billy Powell are now the only founding members in the band. Powells nose had been nearly ripped from his face after crashing head first through a table. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. The band leased a new Convair CV-240 to help them get between shows easier. "I saw the blond hair," he said. My younger brother and I banged out "Freebird" on a cheap set of drums in our bedroom. I told him that it was the strongest thing I had seen a man do.. The tail section broke off, the cockpit broke off and buckled underneath, then both wings broke off. 5 spot, it was the bands first No. Marc Frank remembers seeing complete and total despair. Freebird, Lynyrd Skynyrd, 10/20/77 and a notebook-sized rebel flag are deeply etched into the old bark. Ben Gabel, of Denham Springs, is a former surveyor, and navigated to the scene from the official NTSB report, which includes the latitude and longitude. It was going to be the replacement for Douglas C3s with a pressurized cabin that was then just being mandated as a rule for commercial airlines. All of the seats were ripped from the frame of the plane, landing in the front section of the crash. Pilot Walter McCrearey and co-pilot John Grey were killed on impact. Rock Musician. The Vintage News Aerosmith Said No, Lynyrd Skynyrd Said Yes To The Plane. And the hardest-working rock 'n' roll band in America was about to run out of gas. I knew my camera had stories to tell. 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.