Lynyrd Skynyrd has given rock music some of its most beloved live anthems. It's even become a humorous tradition among audience members at concerts to shout "Free Bird" -- the name of the band's signature tune -- and request the song regardless of the performer or style of music.
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00:00For many, the name Leonard Skinnerd instantly conjures up the day in 1977 when three band
00:07members died in a plane crash in the woods of Mississippi.
00:11For Leonard Skinnerd fans, that day was one of the most tragic in rock history.
00:15Here's the truth behind the Leonard Skinnerd plane crash.
00:19On October 20, 1977, Leonard Skinnerd was skyrocketing to fame and had several new members
00:26on the start of a three-month tour to promote their new album, Street Survivors.
00:31But they weren't exactly traveling in style.
00:33The plane chosen for their tour was an old 1948 Convair 240, a twin-engine prop that
00:40had already racked up over 29,000 flight hours.
00:43It was shaky enough that earlier in the year, Aerosmith had decided the plane was too dangerous
00:48to fly in.
00:49Still, despite the protests of guitarist Alan Collins and head of security Gene Odom, Leonard
00:55Skinnerd decided to use it anyway, with band leader Ronnie Van Zant reportedly saying just
01:00before boarding,
01:01If the Lord wants you to die on this plane when it's your time, it's your time.
01:05It would prove tragically prophetic.
01:08The plane took off at 4.02pm from Greenville, South Carolina, heading for Baton Rouge, Louisiana,
01:15with an estimated arrival time of 6.45pm.
01:19Pilot Walter McCreary notified the flight tower that they had roughly five hours of
01:23fuel on board, plenty for the flight.
01:26But just a couple hours later, while still over Mississippi, McCreary contacted the Air
01:30Traffic Control Center in Houston, saying they were out of fuel.
01:34It was the last communication from the plane.
01:38Band members were playing cards while Van Zant napped on the floor when the pilot suddenly
01:42alerted them that they were out of fuel.
01:44Drummer Artemis Pyle, a pilot himself, told everyone how to prepare for the crash, while
01:49some reportedly panicked.
01:52Most just sat in silent prayer, hoping for a safe landing.
01:55Ten minutes later, the plane went down in the trees near Gillsburg, Mississippi.
01:59Keyboardist Billy Powell told the Orlando Sentinel,
02:02I remember we started clipping those pine trees.
02:06It felt like being rolled down a hill in a garbage can and being hit by about a hundred
02:10baseball bats at the same time.
02:13The plane then impacted the ground and skidded another 140 feet.
02:18The wings were torn off and the cockpit smashed into a tree, killing McCreary and his co-pilot
02:23William Gray.
02:24The fuselage broke off and the top of the plane tore open, throwing people out.
02:29Powell told Rolling Stone, I crashed into a table.
02:32People were hit by flying objects all over the plane.
02:35The remains of the plane finally slid to a stop in a swampy, wooded area.
02:40Powell crawled out of the wreckage and saw that the fuselage, cockpit, wings, and tail
02:45section were gone.
02:47His nose, he discovered, was now hanging from the side of his face and bleeding profusely.
02:53The musician sat on top of the airplane in shock, crying, before he heard bassist Leon
02:57Wilkinson calling for help.
02:59I remember Leon screaming, get me out of here.
03:02Pyle also survived the crash, his ribs, quote, sticking out of his chest.
03:08Along with roadie Ken Payton, the three left the crash site seeking help.
03:13They found it in the form of local farmer Johnny Mote, who originally thought the ragged
03:17men were escaped convicts, before realizing the awful truth.
03:23He told Rolling Stone, one of them was hugging me around the neck and telling me, we gotta
03:28get them out.
03:29But there was no help for pilots McCreary and Gray, band members Ronnie Van Zant, Steve
03:35Gaines and Cassie Gaines, or assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick.
03:40All six were killed on impact, and the 20 survivors were in bad shape, with Rolling
03:45Stone reporting that, they endured shattered bones, torn flesh, lengthy hospitalizations
03:51and grueling rehabilitations.
03:55Fans were stunned as images of the crash began playing on news reports across the world.
04:00You can't even realize, seeing one of these things on television, exactly what a crash
04:05of this magnitude looks like.
04:07Speculation on the cause of the crash immediately centered on the lack of fuel.
04:12Authorities still believe the plane ran out of gas.
04:15But why?
04:16Didn't they put enough gas in the tanks, or was there a leak?
04:19After a lengthy investigation, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board released its official
04:25investigation.
04:26Nine separate findings were listed, including statements that both engines on the plane
04:31quote, ceased to produce power because the aircraft's usable fuel was exhausted, and
04:36that the crew, Walter McCreary and William Gray, quote, failed to monitor adequately
04:42the fuel flow and route fuel consumption and fuel quantity gauges, and also didn't take
04:49appropriate pre-flight action to ensure an adequate fuel supply.
04:54But their mistakes were apparently compounded by a mechanical failure that caused one of
04:58the engines to burn through fuel much faster than normal.
05:02That would explain why, on another flight two days earlier, Al and Collins witnessed
05:07a 10-foot flame shooting out of the right engine.
05:10Ironically, Pyle told the Orlando Sentinel that during the tragic last flight, the band
05:15had decided that going forward, they would only fly on new planes.
05:20We had decided to get a Learjet for the band, a beautiful bus for the crew.
05:24It was ridiculous for us to be on an old plane like that.
05:28With the plane crash behind them, it would take time for everyone involved with Leonard
05:32Skinner to recover.
05:34Five surviving band members, Alan Collins, Billy Powell, Gary Rosenthal, Leon Wilkerson,
05:41and Artemis Pyle, suffered critical injuries from multiple broken bones to debilitating
05:46internal injuries.
05:48It looked like the end of the band forever.
05:50Will there be a Leonard Skinner after this?
05:54I don't think so.
05:55The first step in the recovery process was changing the album cover, which originally
06:00showed crash victim Steve Gaines surrounded by fire.
06:04But it was a long process, and it wasn't until a decade later, in 1987, that the surviving
06:10members of the band reunited.
06:12First thing I want to do is bring out the survivors of our plane crash we had ten years
06:17ago.
06:18The band reformed, joined by a former guitarist for the group Ed King, with Ronnie Van Zant's
06:24brother, Johnny Van Zant, taking over as lead singer.
06:27But there would still be more tragedies.
06:29Collins, who was left paraplegic after a motorcycle accident in 1986, succumbed to pneumonia in
06:361990.
06:37Wilkerson was found dead in his hotel room in 2001, and in 2009, Powell died of a heart
06:43attack.
06:44The band left Rosington and Pyle as the only surviving members of the original band.
06:50In October 2019, Ronnie Van Zant's widow, Judy Van Zant Jenis, joined others to dedicate
06:56a new monument at the crash site, created with money from the Leonard Skinner Monument
07:01Project, which raised over $80,000.
07:04Van Zant Jenis said,
07:06"'It's been 42 years today since we lost Ronnie, Steve, Cassie, and Dean, but they
07:12will live on through the music of Leonard Skinner and all of the fans from around the
07:16world.'"
07:17And 2020 promises to be a big year for the band.
07:21A film about the tragic plane crash called Street Survivors, the true story of the Leonard
07:27Skinner plane crash, is scheduled to be released in June, the same month Leonard Skinner is
07:32planning to play their final concert ever, at the end of their Last of the Street Survivors
07:37Farewell Tour.
07:42For more UN videos visit www.un.org