• 1977 – Three members of the American rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd died when their chartered plane crashed in Gillsburg, Mississippi.

• 1977 – A plane carrying the rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd crashes in woodland in Mississippi, United States. Six people, including three band members, are killed.

Lynyrd Skynyrd

Lynyrd Skynyrd (pronounced /ˌlɛnərd ˈskɪnərd/ LEN-ərd-SKIN-ərd) is an American rock band best known for popularizing the Southern rock genre during the 1970s. Originally formed in 1964 as My Backyard in Jacksonville, Florida, the band was also known by names such as The Noble Five and One Percent, before finally deciding on "Lynyrd Skynyrd" in 1969. The band gained worldwide recognition for its live performances and signature songs "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Free Bird". At the peak of their success, two band members and a backup singer died in an airplane crash in 1977, putting an abrupt end to the band's most popular incarnation. The band has sold 28 million records in the United States.

1977 Convair CV-240 crash

On October 20, 1977, a Convair CV-240 chartered by the rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd from L&J Company of Addison, Texas, ran out of fuel and crashed in Gillsburg, Mississippi, near the end of its flight from Greenville, South Carolina, to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Lead vocalist/founding member Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist/vocalist Steve Gaines, backing vocalist Cassie Gaines (Steve's older sister), assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary, and co-pilot William Gray all died as a result of the crash. Twenty others survived.

Crash

On October 20, 1977, three days after releasing their album Street Survivors, Lynyrd Skynyrd's chartered Convair CV-240 airplane ran out of fuel near the end of their flight from Greenville, South Carolina, to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The band had just performed at the Greenville Memorial Auditorium and were to play at Louisiana State University upon arriving in Baton Rouge.

Upon realizing that the plane had insufficient fuel, the pilots were going to attempt an emergency landing on a small rural airstrip. Despite their efforts, they did not make it and the plane crashed in a wooded area near Gillsburg, Mississippi. Lead singer/founding member Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist/vocalist Steve Gaines, backing vocalist Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary, and copilot William Gray all died in the crash.

Posted October 19, 2017 05:36 pm | Updated 05:41 pm
By Tom Szaroleta

What might have been for Lynyrd Skynyrd?

Jacksonville band’s plane crashed 40 years ago

Forty years ago, things were looking up for the Jacksonville boys in Lynyrd Skynyrd. They already were kings of the Southern rock scene, they’d added a new hotshot guitar player to the lineup and their new album, “Street Survivors,” had just been released.

Then came the plane crash. Forty years ago today, the band was flying from a show in Greenville, S.C., to the next stop on the tour, in Baton Rouge, La., when their chartered Convair CV-240 ran out of fuel and crashed in the Mississippi woods.

Singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines and backup singer Cassie Gaines, plus the band’s road manager and the two pilots died in the crash. Twenty others onboard were badly injured.

If the plane had not crashed, what might have become of Lynyrd Skynyrd? What if Van Zant and Gaines had not died and the band continued to build on the momentum that took it to the top of the rock heap? Would Skynyrd’s popularity have grown or would egos have driven them apart? Would they have changed their sound to fit in during the MTV ’80s? Would they have embraced country?

Forby Leonard Skinner (January 11, 1933 – September 20, 2010) was an American high school gym teacher, basketball coach, and businessman from Jacksonville, Florida. He is known in popular culture as the namesake of the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Biography

Skinner was born in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1933 and graduated from Robert E. Lee High School in 1951. He attended Jacksonville Junior College on a basketball scholarship before being drafted into the U.S. Army. After his discharge from the Army, Skinner attended Florida State University, where he graduated in 1957.

For many years, Skinner was a gym teacher at his alma mater, Robert E. Lee High School. Before coaching at Robert E. Lee, he taught at Glynn Academy in Glynn County, Georgia. He was also a basketball coach at Stillwell Jr. High in Jacksonville. Several members of the band Lynyrd Skynyrd, including Ronnie Van Zant, Gary Rossington, and Bob Burns, were students at Robert E. Lee in the 1960s. Skinner's strict enforcement of a policy against long hair inspired the members to name their band after him. The group reportedly changed their name after Skinner sent Rossington and others to the principal's office for wearing their hair too long. Over time, Burns, Rossington, and other band members developed a series of running in-jokes about Skinner and ultimately decided to pay "tongue-in-cheek homage" to him by renaming themselves "Lynyrd Skynyrd." In 1977, an Associated Press article described the band's connection to their gym teacher as follows:

It seems a physical education teacher named Leonard Skinner didn't cotton to long hair or loud music. A run-in with him helped get the boys suspended. As a way of getting back, they named the band for Skinner, changing the vowels to avoid a lawsuit and becoming famous enough to make the story a rock legend.

Interviewed in January 2009, Skinner said he was just following the rules about hair length. It bothered him that the legend had grown that he was particularly tough on the band members or that he had them kicked out of school. He said, "It was against the school rules. I don't particularly like long hair on men, but again, it wasn't my rule." At the same time, Skinner told The Times-Union of Jacksonville, "They were good, talented, hard-working boys. They worked hard, lived hard and boozed hard." Skinner's son said, "I think he kind of ate it up. He didn’t like it at first, he had mixed emotions later, but I think he kind of liked it eventually."