cassie gaines cause of death

They were scheduled to perform at the Louisiana State University. A medical examiner said on Sunday that Wilkeson suffered from chronic liver and lung disease, and most likely died of natural causes. Unfortunately, their plane ran short of fuel. Sooner Guitarist's Music Lives On Even in Death - The Oklahoman 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 On 20th October 1977, the Lynyrd Skynyrd boarded a chartered Convair CV-240 to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, after their performance in Greenville, South Carolina. From left to right: Allen Collins, Ronnie Van Zant, And Gary Rossington. You have permission to edit this article. With that cue, Governor took the honors and introduced everyone as Gabel's mouth gaped in disbelief. I didn't know where this was going. The band buckled in. If you look closely, Ronnie Van Zant and Steve Gaines (2 of 3 band members to die in the crash) are completely engulfed in flames, whereas the rest of the band is merely standing around in the streets of fire. Photo: obviousmag.org. Ronnie had died instantly upon impact, his head slamming into a tree. Photo: Uncle Johns Bathroom Reader. 10 Details About the Fatal Plane Crash that Was the Death of Lynyrd Photo: obviousmag.org. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? 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.). ", Other questions:subscriberservices@theadvocate.com. It was rumored that it was Ed Kings (original guitar player for Lynyrd Skynyrd) wife but it was not confirmed. All of the seats were ripped from the frame of the plane, landing in the front section of the crash. All he could think was that they must be from a recent a jailbreak," she said. How did Cassie Gaines get in Lynyrd Skynyrd? He had been hospitalized since September. The original cover was restored after the 30th anniversary of the album. Everyone was afraid of riding on this plane. Billy Powell would be in the new starting line-up of Lynyrd Skynyrd until his death in 2009. Three crew members died in a plane crash just three days after the release of their 5th album. Most of the 20 survivors were taken to Southwest Regional Medical Center in McComb, where the lobby had been transformed into a makeshift emergency treatment center to quickly deal with the onslaught of plane crash victims. Ronnie Van Zant was just more than the bands main songwriter, frontman, and singer. I knew my camera had stories to tell. Willing to lend a hand and stick by his bandmates, he was hard to beat when standing by your side. Gene Odom, Lynyrd Skynyrds bodyguard, recalls: They took my watch, my wallet, my ring, and my money as I lay bleeding on the ground. 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. Updated cover after plane crash, 1977The official NTSB accident report reads, "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. Pilot Walter. He rushed to his truck and headed in. Artimus Pyle and Gary Rossington are the only two members alive today from the crash. She was hesitant because she had seen a small fire in one of the engines the previous day. Four of the passengers were killed including bandleader and lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines and assistant tour manager Dean Kilpatrick. "New Orleans is a southern city. At the beginning of the flight, all was well, amid high tensions. On hearing of the accident, Billingsley was so shaken that some of her hair fell out. But I couldn't stand it any longer. Cause of death: Car accident. One band member, JoJo Billingsly, was not on the flight. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. Artimus Pyle emerged with several broken ribs, and bleeding everywhere you could. There is some speculation as to why the second engine had ultimately failed. . I knew I could take photographs if I could get there. Musician. The Getty Images design is a trademark of Getty Images. The official cause of death will be announced after toxicology test results come back in two to three weeks. But soon, the helicopters that were heard and seen previously were on the scene. It is a cautionary song about drug abuse that fans believed was aimed at one of the members. Headline from a local newspaper reporting the crash. The album cover depicted the band members in an alleyway covered in flames. Varying accounts have Mote either firing a warning shot into the air or actually shooting Pyle in the shoulder no report is completely reliable. At least one member, background singer Cassie Gaines, had refused to board the flight, but was convinced against her better judgment. Street Survivors became the band's second platinum album, and was the #5 top selling album on the U.S. album chart. Especially Artimus, who had three broken ribs and multiple large cuts. I worked the scene for about 30 minutes before a veteran photographer approached me and asked if I knew where the local paper "The Enterprise Journal" was located. Despite this faux pas, Powell has been on good terms with the remaining band members since the incident. Marc Frank recalled hearing both engines on the plane then within a matter of minutes, just air passing over the cabin. Leon Wilkeson, their bass player, had arguably the most harrowing recovery; as he faced many internal injuries, dislodged teeth, and a broken left arm and leg, and his heart stopped twice on the operating table while doctors frantically struggled to keep him alive. In an interview in the book Walk This Way, Aerosmith's assistant chief of flight operations Zunk Buker tells of seeing pilots McCreary and Gray trading a bottle of Jack Daniels back and forth while Buker and his father were inspecting the plane. It Crashed, Killing 3 Members, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Drinking, Fighting, Hell-Raising: The Classic Skynyrd Lineup In Pittsburgh, Associate Press Mississippi Road Signs For Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash Site, Hollywood Reporter Appeals Court Reverses Ban on Lynyrd Skynyrd Movie, Ronnie Van Zant Of Lynyrd Skynyrd Predicted His Own Death, Groove History, 1977 Missippi Convair CV-240 Plane Crash, Wikipedia, History Collection The Deadliest Plane Crash in Canada Killed 248 Soldiers in 1985, History Collection A Plane Crashed into the Empire State Building (1945). She was requested to join the band as a backing vocalist. Access the best of Getty Images with our simple subscription plan. This year there were no red roses, but a freshly carved "R.J." stood out with red paint enhancement. The talented singer met her death at the young age of 29. In Genes interview, he mentions that he ran to the cock pit and to alert the pilots of the exploded engine and their response was Nothins wrong. Marc Frank remembers seeing complete and total despair. Billy Powell would be in the new starting line-up of Lynyrd Skynyrd until his death in 2009. Totaled, decimated, and left for dead. 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. And to Brenda's point, he's writing a book. Organize, control, distribute and measure all of your digital content. Some of the guys were playing poker. The aircraft was destroyed by impact; there was no fire. Almost as mysteriously, the full bottle is never seen again. Mote was putting out square bales of hay for the cattle when he heard what sounded "like a car crash on a gravel road." His only help at that moment was his neighbor, Dwain Easley. It is reported that the pilots whose eyes were full of terror, told them to go back to their seats and prepare for impact. Two of them were crew members, pilot Walter McReary and co-pilot William Gray, the rest were band members and roadies. Millions of high-quality images, video, and music options are waiting for you. Don't look like they can afford a ticket. 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. Grow your brand authentically by sharing brand content with the internets creators. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. He was best known for being a Rock Singer. Johnny Mote and his ragtag team were first on the crash site. But sadly when he drank, which was quite often, his demeanor and character qualities changed drastically. The band got its name as a way of mocking Leonard Skinner, a gym coach at Robert E. Lee High School known for punishing his long-haired students specifically band co-founders Gary Rossington and Bob Burns. 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. He was a walking treasure trove of names, facts and figures. Gary Rossington broke both his arms and both his legs in the crash, and took many months to recuperate. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. 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. Allen Collins suffered two cracked vertebrae in his neck, and both Collins and Leon Wilkeson nearly had arms amputated as a result of crash injuries. News had spread about the crash and before too long an estimated 3,000 people had swarmed to the crash site. Band members Artimus Pyle and Billy Powell entered the cockpit to get an idea of what was happening. Cassie Gaines died on the 20 th of October, 1977 in a plane crash at Gillsburg, Mississippi when she was only 29 years old. Small and cramped, it still felt better than lift-off of the Convair CV-240. We had to cross a black water slew," he said. Natural causes were to blame. "They seemed to be chasing him, trying to flag him down. Lynyrd Skynyrd reformed in 1987, and has been touring and recording steadily ever since with Johnny Van Zant, brother of the late Ronnie, as lead singer. Cassie Larue Gaines was an American singer. With the dust settled from a plane crash that would make a small Mississippi town famous, everything that surrounded the few conscious and able survivors were completely horrific and getting darker by the second. Laying on the ground, still alive for only a moment, to slowly bleed to death. "They'd busted bales of hay in the bed to soften the ride," he said. Then on the other side, it was Allen in the middle of Dean and Cassie. Losing daylight, the pilots desperately looked for an open field or some kind of saving grace. Shining from what seemed to be a small house on a dairy farm. Artimus Pyle and Gary Rossington are the only two members alive today from the crash. Cassie LaRue Hatfield Gaines (1926-1979) - Find a The medical examiner reported that Wilkeson suffered from liver and lung disease at the time of his death. News had spread about the crash and before too long an estimated 3,000 people had swarmed to the crash site. The two men, for a while, were the only able-bodied persons present to help pull people from the wreckage. 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. Cassie joined the team and became one of the three members of The Honkette's, a female gospel vocal trio of Lynyrd Skynyrd.