October 20, 1977. Remembering Lynyrd Skynyrd's crash

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Gary, Oct 19, 2003.

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  1. johnny33

    johnny33 New Member

    Location:
    usa
    RIP Ronnie and family.

    Was there anything actually wrong with the plane? I thought it was simply on oversite. That the plane ran out of fuel?
     
  2. ManFromCouv

    ManFromCouv Employee #3541

    Most, if not all, of the traveling crew had trepidation about the aircraft. But Ronnie ran the show and said 'that's the plane we're going to use'. Since Ronnie kept climbing aboard, the others followed, albeit reluctantly. The band were making good money in those days, why wouldn't they have spent a little more to acquire something everyone felt comfortable with? Sad.
     
  3. Wikipedia:

    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. Aerosmith's assistant chief of flight operations Zunk Buker tells of seeing pilots McCreary and Gray trading a bottle of Jack Daniel's back and forth while he and his father were inspecting the plane. Aerosmith's touring family was also relieved because the band, specifically Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, had been trying to pressure their management into renting that specific plane.[11]


    "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 higher-than-normal fuel consumption."
    —NTSB Accident Report[12]



    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 traveling party arrived in Baton Rouge. Cassie Gaines was reportedly so fearful of flying in the Convair that she offered to ride in the band's equipment truck instead; Ronnie Van Zant had talked her onto the airplane on October 20.[10] 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. It was suggested on the VH-1 Behind The Music profile on Skynyrd that the pilots, panicking when the right engine failed, accidentally dumped the remaining fuel. 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, although it is common practice in all but the largest transport-category aircraft to manually check fuel quantities to verify fuel gauge indications. In his book Lynyrd Skynyrd: Remembering the Free Birds of Southern Rock, Gene Odom makes an unsubstantiated accusation that co-pilot William Gray was impaired because he had spent part the previous night snorting cocaine; the toxicology reports from both pilots' autopsies had found them to be clean for drugs and alcohol.
     
  4. scotto

    scotto Senior Member

    Supposedly it was a crappy but not necessarily dangerous plane that Skynyrd borrowed from Aerosmith. One of the engines malfunctioned in flight, caught fire, and the pilot dumped the gas, which was, him not knowing the extent of the malfunction, the right thing to do.

    Everyone should go find a copy of Drive-By Truckers' "Southern Rock Opera" that they can listen to tonight. Here are some of the lyrics to "Greenville to Baton Rouge" from that album:

    Last night, you should have seen this plane. The right engine shot a twelve foot flame.
    But South Carolina made us glad we came.
    Now we're up in the air again.

    Once we hit Louisiana, baby, I don't care
    Got a brand new airplane waiting for us there
    Give this piece of **** back to Aerosmith.
    Wake me up when we get there.

    The right engine gave a little flash, the pilot panicked and dumped the gas
    Everything is quiet, we're dropping fast.
    When we touch down gonna whup' his ***!

    Greenville to Baton Rouge
    Can't die now got a show to do
    The life I live is the life I choose
    Greenville to Baton Rouge.


    Here's some more info: http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/September-October-08/On-this-Day--Lynyrd-Skynyrd-s-Tour-Plane-Crashes.html
     
  5. Rapid Fire

    Rapid Fire Hyperactive!

    Location:
    Mansfield, TX, USA
    31 years, wow doesn't seem that long ago.

    I had just heard of Lynyrd Skynyrd a couple days before this tragic event.
     
  6. J_D__

    J_D__ Senior Member

    Location:
    Huntersville, NC
    When I think I'm having a bad day, I imagine going through a plane accident and then getting threatened with a gun in the same day. Now, that's a bad day.
     
  7. pocofan

    pocofan Senior Member

    Location:
    Alabama
    I still remeber hearing the announcement on TV. At first they did not specify who the band was.
     
  8. thebeatles67

    thebeatles67 Forum Resident In Memoriam

    Here's a pic of Gene Odom (head of security for Skynrd and on the plane that crashed 31 years ago this evening) and myself and my son this spring. Gene is friends with one of my high school buddies.
     
  9. thebeatles67

    thebeatles67 Forum Resident In Memoriam

    Thought you folks might like to see this--the last show ticket stub the day before the crash. Kinda sad to even look at the ticket. The Florida shows of Oct 77 and the Greenville SC show were promoted by a guy from my hometown.
     
  10. tommy-thewho

    tommy-thewho Senior Member

    Location:
    detroit, mi
    Very sad day. Hard to believe it's been 31 years now.....
     
  11. 5-String

    5-String μηδὲν ἄγαν

    Location:
    Sunshine State
    I grew up with Skynyrd's music, although I never saw them live and I am too young to remember the crash.

    My thanks to the original poster for reminding me that this was 31 years today. A very sad day indeed.

    I am gonna listen now to Second Helping, my favorite Skynyrd album.
     
  12. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    I have some pictures taken of one of the last shows in Florida by a buddy.

    What makes it so sad musically is how great that last album is. Wonderful songs, wonderful production, it sounds so good!
     
  13. Doug Sclar

    Doug Sclar Forum Legend

    Location:
    The OC
    This hits very close to home for me.

    31 years ago I was working at Dawnbreaker Studio, but Seals & Crofts had just gone out on tour (without me) in their Convair 240. I'd flown a few times in that plane. It was set up pretty cool with beds, couches, TV's, an electric piano, etc. That plane was generally used for the band anyhow, and when I toured the sound and stage crew usually used a Beechcraft Queen Air, and the lighting crew used a Cesna 310.

    Anyhow, I told some of my friends about the Convair as it was pretty cool. It often shot flames out of the engines due to it's massive oil consumption and when we would go on long trips, we'd have to stop for oil. :D AS a result we called it Thunderfoot. Jimmy & Dash sometimes did a jam during sound check and for some reason one day decided to call it Thunderfoot, after that plane.

    A version of Thunderfoot was released on the Sudan Village album.

    Back to the story. That night I heard about the crash on the radio as I was driving home from the studio. I was a bit freaked out at first because I knew J&D had just left in theirs. This was way before cell phones so I could not call anyone to get more info. When I got home and there were lots of phone calls waiting for me. Even though I was working in the studio by this time, when my friends heard about a rock band crashing in the south in a Convair 240 many figured it was Jimmy & Dash, and maybe me.

    Apparently the 240 was a pretty popular plane with rock bands. I assume this is because it was large and fairly inexpensive. That said, several of them crashed. Once when we were playing the south we flew over the wreckage of the Doobie Brother's 240 which had crashed after takeoff somewhere around Tennessee.

    Well that's my story, and it's not much of a story, but everytime I hear about Lynyrd Skynyrd's plane crash the memories come rolling back.
     
  14. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    Simply asking all fans of Lynyrd Skynyrd to remember those that were lost in the plane crash 33 years ago today...

    Ronnie Van Zant
    Steve Gaines
    Cassie Gaines

    Dean Kilpatrick
    (road manager)

    :sigh:
     
  15. Chris Schoen

    Chris Schoen Rock 'n Roll !!!

    Location:
    Maryland, U.S.A.
    Sad day indeed. I honor them every time I play their music. Fly on "Free Birds"!
     
  16. aural sax

    aural sax Member

    If I leave here tomorrow, will you still remember me..........
     
  17. Todd W.

    Todd W. It's a Puggle

    Location:
    Maryland
    How could I have forgotten this? This is and was one of my all time favorite bands. Maybe I wanted to forget it? We had tickets for the Street Survivors tour in Landover, Md. when we heard of the crash. One of my greatest rock disappointments. Such a tragic band and even 3 more survivors of the crash have passed since. So here is to you also Allen, Leon and Billy.....:cheers:
     
  18. Javimulder

    Javimulder New Member

    Location:
    Spain
    October 20th 1997 was the only time I've been lucky enough to catch this band (or what's left of it, some would say) in concert in my life... An awesome and emotional night I'll always remember...

    Sad anniversary, joyous celebration of the great music of one of the best rock bands ever! :thumbsup:
     
  19. spice9

    spice9 Senior Member

    Location:
    New York, NY
    I was just out of college working on a newspaper the night of the crash. The managing editor came up to me and asked if I knew how to spell Lynyrd Skynyrd for the story. It had been jumbled in the AP wire report. I did of course, and got brownie points. Dopey memory.
     
  20. Raunchnroll

    Raunchnroll Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    I remember it like yesterday. Next to Black Oak they were my favorite band. I was moving to Colorado the next day. It made a big impression on me at that age....
     
  21. Picca

    Picca Forum Resident

    Location:
    Modena, Italy
    Sweet Home Alabama
    Play that dead band song
    Turn the speakers up full blast
    Play it all night long.

    Warren Zevon
     
  22. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    I was one month before my 19th birthday. Had driven up to the nearest record store at the time to get the just released Street Survivors. Asst. Mgr. was a friend from high school, and asked why hadn't I bought my tickets for their show which was exactly one week away ? I didn't have an answer, just this gut feeling not to... when I got home, around the time I was listening to the album for the 3rd time, the tv was on, with the sound turned down, but I could see it was an emergency interruption by the local affiliate...I couldn't believe it !?!?!? Another very sad few days after that, just like two months earlier, with the passing of Elvis. :sigh:
     
  23. JA Fant

    JA Fant Well-Known Member

    Indeed, a sad day. I will pay tribute by playing some LS.
     
  24. dlokazip

    dlokazip Forum Transient

    Location:
    Austin, TX, USA
    What is weird is that Aerosmith wanted to charter a plane with the same company just a few months before, but their flight operations staff rejected the company after inspecting the planes and watching members of the crew sharing a bottle of Jack Daniels in the cockpit.

    Aerosmith's Chief of Flight Operations had to threatened Aerosmith's manager David Krebs with quitting before he would back off of the idea of hiring them. (It would have saved them a lot of money.)

    After the Skynyrd crash, Krebs called him to apologize.

    All chronicled in Aerosmith's autobiography "Walk This Way". I was so floored when I read that account, I had to read it again.
     
  25. bare trees

    bare trees Senior Member

    Wasn't it the exact same plane that Aerosmith was interested in?
     
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