Cassie Gaines Biography - Facts, Childhood, Family Life & Achievements As medical personnel triaged the scene, he helped carry the litters of the injured and the dead across the creek to a waiting 4-wheel-drive pickup truck. Apparently, Artimus had been quoted saying that Ronnie got up, went to the back of the plane and gave him a hippy handshake but Gene was quite persistent on the fact that it was complete bull. Dean Kilpatrick, the bands manager, lay dead and covered in blood. 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. When the news broke that it was Lynyrd Skynyrd's tour plane, Nancy and I stared at each other. 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. Losing daylight, the pilots desperately looked for an open field or some kind of saving grace. July 30, 2001 -- Leon Wilkeson, bass player and founding member of Lynyrd Skynyrd, is dead at age 49. Bianca is a force to be reckoned with in the American film industry. 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. The Convair 240 itself had been inspected by members of Aerosmith's flight crew for possible use in the early summer of 1977, but was rejected because it was felt that neither the plane nor the crew were up to standards. And then we heard voices. It would take hours to remove the bodies of the dead and injured from the plane. Cassie Gaines was one of the band members who boarded the ill-fated flight. The 22-year-old had been outside bailing hay in the twilight when he heard the crash in the distance, which he assumed was a car skidding in gravel. But after seeing helicopter searchlights, he started to assume it was a jailbreak instead. The plane finally slammed into the earth, and Billy Powell recalls saying, We hit the trees at approximately 90 mph. As we walked, Easely pointed to a towering pine. Cassie Gaines Wikipedia; Sponsored Links. Boards are the best place to save images and video clips. Deceased people hanging from trees, the other survivors moaning for help of any kind, and completely surrounded by a black swamp whose canopy is blocking the only light that is trying so desperately to shine through. I photographed their wedding. On several occasions, the latter shined through. "He didn't want to talk about it for years.". A Convair CV-240, similar to the one in the crash. For many years, a dozen red roses have been carefully placed around the base, much like the mysterious unfinished bottle of Martell cognac at the grave of Edgar Allen Poe in Baltimore. Some blame it on the planes age and poor design, weighing in on its smaller fuselage and compact wingspan. The band regularly has different people sit in and play shows with them like Warren Haynes and Dicky Betts. Powell's nose had been nearly ripped from his face after crashing head first through a table. Be the first to get hottest news from our Editor-in-Chief, Check your email and confirm your subscription. "I was well prepared with advanced trauma life support training," he said, "and (I was) a flight surgeon in the military. Minutes later he was guiding an ambulance through an overgrown trail. Pilot Walter McCrearey and co-pilot John Grey were killed on impact. It was rumored that it was Ed Kings (original guitar player for Lynyrd Skynyrd) wife but it was not confirmed. Johnny Mote and his ragtag team were first on the crash site. "We didn't know how much gas was on the ground. Check your inbox to be the first to know the hottest news. Band members Artimus Pyle and Billy Powell entered the cockpit to get an idea of what was happening. Wilkeson would eventually be found dead in a hotel room in 2001 at age 49. Everyone on the flight, except for Ronnie Van Zant, was feeling uneasy and restless. One band member, JoJo Billingsly, was not on the flight. Photo: Uncle Johns Bathroom Reader. Especially Artimus, who had three broken ribs and multiple large cuts. Some blame it on the planes age and poor design, weighing in on its smaller fuselage and compact wingspan. 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. 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. With a newly-released album, "Street Survivors," they were flying from a concert in Greenville, S.C. to the next night's show at LSU in Baton Rouge in a substandard charter plane. But not all had the intentions of lending a helping hand. They all died but we didnt. Turns out that Cassie didn't want to board that particular flight and had blatantly refused to travel on that plane. Artimus Pyle was also notoriously outspoken against the plane and on several occasions would take buses to shows. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. As we talked, we heard a racket through the trees. Marc Frank remembers seeing complete and total despair. Mote fired a warning shot in the air. . Headline from a local newspaper reporting the crash. Shining from what seemed to be a small house on a dairy farm. Rossington recalls saying It was always weird for Allen and me because we were up front in the plane. Lynyrd Skynyrd is a staple on rock, classic rock, and southern radio stations. He is best known as a guitarist and backing vocalist with rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd from 1976 until his death in the October 1977 airplane crash that claimed other band members and crew. The two men, for a while, were the only able-bodied persons present to help pull people from the wreckage. How did Cassie Gaines get in Lynyrd Skynyrd? Artimus Pyle emerged with several broken ribs, and bleeding everywhere you could. I threw it in reverse and plowed into my mother-in-law's car. One of them being completely decapitated. The band regularly has different people sit in and play shows with them like Warren Haynes and Dicky Betts. 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. You have permission to edit this article. At least one member, background singer Cassie Gaines, had refused to board the flight, but was convinced against her better judgment. A Convair CV-240, similar to the one in the crash. Headline from a local newspaper reporting the crash. He had known Easley Creek since his youth. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. Its many hit songs include "Freebird," "Sweet Home Alabama," "Gimme Three Steps" and "Simple Man.". Posted and no trespassing signs are prominently displayed. The band would be marked for strife as just before their inaugural tour, Allens wife would bleed to death due to a miscarriage. Pyle used the couple's phone to call his wife. He was the New Orleans-based photographer for the Associated Press Jack Thornell, known for his Pulitzer Prize winning photo of civil rights leader James Meredith. 10 Details About the Fatal Plane Crash that Was the Death of Lynyrd That now legendary and near-mythical plane crash killed Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, Honkettes backup singer Cassie Gaines, assistant tour manager Dean Kilpatrick and the pilot and co-p Original cover for Street Survivors, 1977Notably, the third member of The Honkettes, JoJo Billingsley, was not on the plane and in fact was home tending to a family member's illness. He had been impaled by a part of the fuselage and it pushed through his body and projected out of his back. What injuries did Cassie Gaines die from? Mote hopped into his pick-up to get back to his house, told his wife to get back in the house, then proceeded to grab his gun and stand guard. He suffered a heart attack . The pilots would have to make an emergency landing. I put them all to work. I was not there to be a gawker or to get in the way. Billy had taken too long on his intro to the song Free Bird and that didnt set well with Ronnie. Cassie Gaines was born on January 9, 1948 and died on October 20, 1977. I used my camera in my work. Thats when most of the sober members of the band saw that the right propeller was no longer working. Everyone just stood there helpless. Photo: Uncle Johns Bathroom Reader. Then on the other side, it was Allen in the middle of Dean and Cassie. The pilots tried an emergency landing, but the plane crashed in the woods near Gillsburg in Mississippi. Victims were taken to the hospital in McComb, Mississippi by ambulances and other vehicles. Cassie Gaines, a member of the backing vocal trio known as the Honkettes and sister of guitarist Steve Gaines, was so petrified that she nearly squeezed in the band's cramped equipment truck. We had a friendly translator whose command of the English language was poor at best. There are just too few physical landmarks. The rest of the group had no idea at the time that they would never see the face of Ronnie again. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. She said her husband grabbed his .243 hunting rifle, ran out and fired a warning shot. It was Steve, and me, and Ronnie and I was in the middle of them. Some of the guys were playing poker. Shining from what seemed to be a small house on a dairy farm. 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. It sounded great to us. The events before the plane crash are perhaps the most bone-chilling ones you'd ever hear. Brenda Martin, 17 at the time, lived with her husband, Johnny Mote (now divorced) in their mobile home on the north side of the crash site. Billy Powell would be in the new starting line-up of Lynyrd Skynyrd until his death in 2009. A tragic scene no person would ever wish to see or soon forget. Marc Frank, a 24-year-old roadie traveling with the band, noticed what seemed to be fuel spewing from the right engine. I couldn't stand it. 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. She was sick and would meet up with the band in Arkansas to continue the tour. It was the last flight of Lynyrd Skynyrd: Oct. 20, 1977, the night they . Steve Gaines - Wikipedia Rescue vehicles on the ground found no direct path in sight. A plane crash left lead singer Ronnie Van Zandt, lead guitarist Steve Gaines and backup singer Cassie Gaines dead. "Sweet Home Alabama" became the southern anthem for millions. Wilkeson would play in both Rossington Collins Band and the Allen Collins band. One of the three men was the band's drummer Artimus Pyle, who yelled, "Plane crash." Marc Frank recalled hearing both engines on the plane then within a matter of minutes, just air passing over the cabin. Lynyrd Skynyrd was known for their hard-rocking style, driven by powerful guitars. Cassie LaRue Hatfield Gaines (1926-1979) - Find a As the Houston Press reports, the crash took Van Zant's life, as well as the lives of band member Steve Gaines and his sister, backup singer Cassie; and Dean Kilpatrick, the assistant road manager. 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. Skip to main content. The only thing left was a trail of debris and people. At the time of her death, she was 29 years old. Cassie Gaines died on the 20 th of October, 1977 in a plane crash at Gillsburg, Mississippi when she was only 29 years old. "But using a phone out here is worthless," he said, and even with his expertise, he had trouble finding the exact spot of the crash site. Billy had taken too long on his intro to the song Free Bird and that didnt set well with Ronnie. Photo: hu.wikipedia.com. Ronnie Van Zant was just more than the bands main songwriter, frontman, and singer. According to the bands autobiography, Zunk Buker, Aerosmiths chief of flight operations manager, was inspecting the plane and the crew before they pulled the trigger.