Random Truth About Infamous Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash Is Stranger Than Fiction (15 items)

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  (#1) Survivors Sued To Keep A Film About The Crash From Being Released

  In 2017, surviving Lynyrd Synyrd members and heirs of Ronnie Van Zant and Steve Gaines sued Cleopatra Films, a company who made a feature about the 1977 crash. Titled Street Survivor: The True Story of the Lynyrd Synyrd Plane Crash, the film was initially blocked by lower court judge Robert Sweet who claimed the film violated a "blood oath" that surviving members made not to exploit the band's name after the tragedy. The company worked with Artimus Pyle, a former drummer in the band, to create the film.

  In October 2018, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals lifted the lower court judge's injunction, saying:

  The crash is part of the "history" of the band, but it is also an "experience" of Pyle with the band, likely his most important experience. Provisions of a consent decree that both prohibit a movie about such a history and also permit a movie about such an experience are sufficiently inconsistent, or at least insufficiently specific, to support an injunction.
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  (#7) The Left Propeller Also Suddenly Stopped, Thousands Of Feet In The Air

  Pilots Walter McCreary and William Gray were already aware of a fuel issue and there is speculation that they were attempting to transfer oil from one engine to the other but instead mistakenly jettisoned whatever remaining fuel they had, causing the left engine to also shut off, a major issue at 9,000 feet in the air.

  Band members Artimus Pyle and Billy Powell entered the cockpit when one of the pilots, his eyes distorted with fear, told them to get back to their seats and have everyone strap in. Pyle woke up Ronnie Van Zant and informed him of the situation. Survivors would later say that the Skynyrd lead vocalist nonchalantly headed to his seat, an irritated look on his face, as if this was all just another bad day at the office. Ronnie Van Zant was 87 days shy of his 30th birthday.
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  (#4) 48 Hours Prior To The Crash, The Band Was Flying On The Plane When They Saw Sparks Shoot Out Of The Engine

  On October 18, 1977, Lynryd Skynyrd performed in Lakeland, Florida, and then flew to Greenville, South Carolina, for their show on October 19, 1977. En route, several band members were alarmed when they saw 10-foot streams of sparks and flames shooting out of the right engine of the prop plane.

  Although the plane landed safely, following the concert, several members of the band and crew told lead vocalist Ronnie Van Zant that they would not continue the tour unless the plane was replaced. Backup vocalist Cassie Gaines even made a reservation on a commercial flight to the next tour stop, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
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  (#11) A Local Fire Department Chief Was The First To The Crash Site

  The first individual to reach the crash site was Jamie Wall of the Gillsburg Volunteer Fire Department. He convinced Mote that a crash had actually occurred and Mote ultimately let the fireman and his brother Jeffrey onto his property. Wall used a flashlight to cross a creek and when he got to the plane, a Coast Guard helicopter had illuminated it so any forthcoming rescue units could find it.

  The plane was twisted in pieces, the front part upside down. Wall saw one of the pilots, hanging from the interior of the cockpit, clearly dead. Several times in the dark, he tripped over human beings who were still alive and used a hatchet to chop away debris and remove survivors from the wreckage. Eventually, he would be joined by hundreds of people who helped pull survivors out of the plane and walked or stretchered them through creeks and swamp to ambulances as much as a mile away. Although six people were killed, including both pilots, road manager Dean Kilpatrick, Ronnie Van Zant, and Steve and Cassie Gaines, 20 people survived the crash despite horrific injuries. 
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  (#15) The Skynyrd-Neil Young Controversy Possibly Prompted The Vandalism Of Ronnie Van Zant's Grave

  Skynyrd's breakthrough song, "Sweet Home Alabama," mocked Neil Young with seemingly simplistic lyrics that were a response to Young's "Southern Man" and "Alabama." Although it was popularly believed, especially in the Deep South, that Ronnie Van Zant harbored hostility towards Neil Young, the song was actually more complex than it appeared.

  Young also acknowledged loving the tune and even sent demo tapes of his own music that he suggested the band should record. Ronnie Van Zant routinely wore Neil Young shirts during live performances and even sported one on the cover of Street Survivors. When vandals broke into Van Zant's tomb in 2000, it was theorized that the motive was to determine if the dead singer was, as rumored, entombed in a Neil Young shirt. 

  As the coffin was only removed, but not successfully opened, Van Zant's favorite cane fishing pole and black, snakeskin-festooned hat are the only definite items known to have accompanied the legendary singer to the afterlife. After this mausoleum desecration, Van Zant's remains were removed to another location, protected by tons of concrete and continuous security. 
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  (#9) The Crash Scene Was Utterly Surreal

  Marc Frank can still remember the sound of metal popping and scraping as the fuselage ripped open and the wings were torn off by the trees. And then silence. Another road crew member next to Frank was in bad shape and moaned, “What happened?” Frank replied, “We f*ckin’ crashed.”

  Suddenly, he could hear other passengers moaning and crying for help. Three individuals were actually ambulatory, including Frank, drummer Artimus Pyle, and another road crew member, Steve Lawler. They crawled out of a hole in the tail of the fuselage and went to look for help.

  In the air, while the plane was still in flight, some daylight had been visible. However, now on the ground and in the trees, it was quite dark. Still, Frank was able to make out some horrific scenes. The co-pilot was hanging in a tree, decapitated. Road manager Dean Kilpatrick was face down, a piece of airplane fuselage fatally protruding from his back. Cassie Gaines had been hurled from the plane and had rapidly bled to death on the ground. 

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