October 20th 1977, The Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash.
Monday, October 20, 2008 @ 9:33 AM
On October 20th, tragedy would strike the band as Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines (Steve's sister and one of Skynyrd's back-up singers), and road manager Dean Kilpatrick are killed when the band's rented plane (short on fuel) crashes into a swamp in Gillsburg, Mississippi, while en route to a gig at Louisiana University. Rossington, Collins, Powell, Wilkeson, and Leslie Hawkins, are all seriously injured but survive the crash. Out of courtesy and good judgement MCA Records withdraws the sleeve of the just released album 'Street Survivors,' which pictures the group standing in flames. The album will become the band's second platinum selling album, hitting #5 on the U.S. album chart.