History's A Disaster

The 1977 Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash

• Andrew

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A headlining tour, a hit record, and a tired airplane came together over Mississippi—and the result reshaped rock history. We trace Lynyrd Skynyrd’s 1977 crash from the first red flags to the last radio call, clarifying what went wrong and why the loss was avoidable. The story starts with a band at full speed after releasing Street Survivors, then zooms into the logistics that carried the risk: a 1948 Convair 240 with a long maintenance trail, visible engine flames on earlier flights, and a flight crew other artists had already declined to trust.

We walk through the chain of decisions on the Greenville-to–Baton Rouge leg: reliance on a faulty fuel gauge, a failure to manually verify fuel, and a reluctance to declare an emergency even as the fuel margin evaporated. Step by step, options narrowed until both engines quit and the aircraft slid through treetops toward a blacked-out swamp. You’ll hear how survivors fought through wreckage, how locals and helicopter crews pieced together a rescue through mud and creek water, and how identification challenges added to the chaos. The human side matters here—fear, grit, and the strange quiet after the crash—alongside the mechanics of how flights stay safe or fail.

We dig into the NTSB’s conclusions on fuel exhaustion, crew inattention, and deficient planning, plus the right-engine issues that likely drove abnormal fuel burn and confusion. We also evaluate later claims that conflict with the official record, separating memory, myth, and verified fact. Finally, we connect the aftermath to cultural legacy: the album cover change, the mourning across the rock community, the reunion years later, and the Hall of Fame recognition that preserved the music even as it memorialized the cost.

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Special thank you to Lunarfall Audio for producing and doing all the heavy lifting on audio editing since April 13, 2025, the Murder of Christopher Meyer episode https://lunarfallaudio.com/


SPEAKER_00:

1977 was a great year for music. Fleetwood Mac released their top-selling album, Rumors, with their single Go Your Own Way. Sex Pistols released their only album, Nevermind the Bullets, Here's the Sex Pistols. Glenn Danzig formed the now iconic horror punk band The Misfits in Lodi, New Jersey. Iron Maiden's classic lineup was starting to take shape with the addition of lead singer Paul Diano, and Leonard Skinnard released their now ironically titled album Street Survivor. Survive the Streets, but did not survive the mountain. When their plane crashed three days after its release. So, what happened? I'm Andrew, and this is History's A Disaster. Tonight we're diving into the mountains of the Leonard Skinner plane crash of 1977 that killed the two pilots and four members of the band and crew. And tonight's episode is brought to you by Uncle Billy Bob's Squirrel Juice. Feeling tired? Dragging ass? About to fall down because you just can't keep going? Then grab a can of Uncle Billy Bob's Squirrel Juice. Uncle Billy Bob's Secret Recipe Juice will give you the cake you need to keep going. Whether you're chasing that sexy cousin around the family reunion or wrestling a gator, trust Uncle Billy Bob to give you the extra energy to get you through the day. Leonard Skinnard is one of the most successful Southern rock bands to come out of the 70s. They were founded in the mid-60s by singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Gary Rosington and Alan Collins, bassist Leon Wilkinson, and drummer Bob Burns. When they met at Robert E. Lee High School in Jacksonville, Florida, they originally called themselves My Backyard. And fortunately, by 1969, they came to their senses and changed the name of the band to Leonard Skinnard, a way better name. Plus, they got to poke fun at their gin teacher who didn't think much of them. You know, typical bullshit, long-haired kids ain't gonna amount to shit type of thing. Their continuing success throughout the early and mid-70s proved him wrong. In 1977, Leonard Skinnard was set the headline at some of the biggest venues in the country, like Madison Square Garden, on their tour of the Survivors, in support of their new album. The tour started in Miami, Florida on October 15, 1977, and was supposed to run until February 1st, 1978, ending in Honolulu, Hawaii. The band's latest release was their sixth album named Street Survivors on October 17th, and it sold a half million records immediately upon release. Which is amazing, being back in the day before Amazon and shit like that, when you had to actually get off your ass, go to the record store, and buy physical music. The original cover of the album was a picture of the band surrounded by fire, and it also included an order form for a Littered Skinner survival kit. Now, to make this tour possible, they needed a plane to get around the country. They settled on a Convair 240, which was manufactured in 1948, meaning the plane was older than the band by 1977, and the plane was originally owned by Western Airlines before being sold off. After passing through multiple owners, it eventually ended up in the hands of the LJ Company of Addison, Texas in April of 1977. In nearly 30 years of service, the plane had racked up over 29,000 flight hours. The plane was powered by two turboprop Pratt and Whitney R2800 engines. And who knows how good the maintenance had been on the plane after passing through multiple owners. I don't really imagine record keeping was that great back then. Especially considering when Aerosmith looked at possibly renting the plane, they took a hard pass on it. They felt that the plane and the crew were not up to their standards. Aerosmith's Assistant Chief of Flight Operations, Zunk Booker, wasn't exactly impressed at all when he saw Captain Walter McCreary and First Officer William Gray passing a bottle of Jack Daniels back and forth while they were inspecting the plane. First impressions are important, and the first time meeting a pilot that's gonna have your life in his hands? Getting drunk? Not exactly a good look. So Aerosmith said no, but Leonard Skinnard unfortunately said yes. And the plane was a source of problems from the very first flight. A six-foot flame started shooting out of the right engine. First Officer Gray comes back and says, Oh, it's fine. It does that, it'll go out, no problem at all. Because, you know, engines being on fire, perfectly normal situation. Except, well, there was a problem, which caused the engine to take in too much gas. It couldn't burn all the gas, so the gas would go through the system and get shot out of the exhaust and burst into flames. Like the big ass flame that was shooting out while they were flying. Which, not a good thing, obviously, and it scared a few of the band members bad enough that several members had decided to take a vote on whether to continue flying on the plane as soon as it reached their Louisiana State University concert in Baton Rouge, their next stop after South Carolina. Casey Gaines, one of the backup vocalists, originally refused to get back on the plane and said she wanted to ride with the band's equipment truck, but was talked out of it by Ronnie, who should have listened to her. Nazareth, who was also touring with them, was invited to a barbecue and then was supposed to fly with them to Baton Rouge, but they rather smartly made up an excuse to not get on this bullshit plane. Before leaving Greenville, the conveyor had been refueled with 400 gallons of fuel. However, the pilots relied solely on a faulty fuel gauge to judge how much gas they had. They just assumed they had about 5 hours worth of fuel on board. They couldn't be bothered to check fuel levels themselves, probably too busy passing a bottle of jack around. So, they left the Greenville downtown airport at a little after 4 p.m. on October 20th, heading for Ryan Airport in Baton Rouge. Aboard the plane were the two pilots, Captain McCreary and First Officer Gray, both working for Falcon Aviation, and their 24 passengers, the seven members of Leonard Skinnard, along with their roadies and other members of their crew and management. They planned to fly directly to Baton Rouge. The flight was supposed to take just two hours and 43 minutes. During the flight, Ronnie slept toward the front of the cabin while most of the rest of the band drank, smoked, and played poker. Nearly two and a half hours into the flight, the fuel gauge was showing dangerously low. Captain McCreary advised the air traffic controllers out of Houston Center they needed to get to an airport and they needed to get there now. Houston Center responded by asking the crew if they had an emergency situation. They said, yep, we're about out of fuel and we need to get to McComb Airport immediately. Houston Center gave them the flight vectors to McComb and advised them to turn to a heading of 250 degrees. They did not confirm that a turn was initiated until a few moments later, but then they came back with We are not declaring an emergency, but we do need to get close to McComb as soon as possible. A minute later they called Houston Center back informing them they were now completely out of gas. Houston Center replied back asking for confirmation. The reply back was I'm sorry, it's just an indication of it. But the pilots did not explain what that meant. Houston Center requested the flight's altitude, and they replied back with were at 4.5, and that was the final radio call between the plane and Houston Center. A few minutes later, the sound of an emergency location transmitter was heard by a nearby aircraft broadcasting from a remote wooded section near Gillsburg, Mississippi. Aboard the plane during the radio call, the right engine started sputtering. The pilots told the passengers they were just transferring oil from one wing to another. Everything's okay. It's fine, everything's fine. But then the engine went completely dead. Not long after that, the second engine died. The plane was now gliding through the air with no working engines. Captain McCreary told everyone to get strapped in. Ronnie, asleep on the floor, was woken up and moved to strap in. Out of options, McCreary said he was going to aim for a field. As the plane descended, the trees kept getting bigger and closer. Then they were in the treetops. The trees smacked relentlessly against the outside of the plane. Both wings were ripped from the plane as it crashed through the trees. The cockpit was smashed in as it ran through. The fuselage continued forward, smashing through the trees as it continued to fall. Inside the plane, people were hit by flying objects. Everyone, not strapped in, was tossed about the cabin. The plane came down into a swampy area, striking a large tree and twisting and smashing the cockpit to the left, throwing several people to the ground when the top of the cabin split open at the middle, and spilling the plane's contents throughout the mangrove. On Timber Company Acreage, next to the farm of Johnny Moat, some of the survivors managed to make it out of the top into the swamp in deathly silence. Others were helped out of the wreckage by Artemis Pyle. Realizing they needed help, Artemis Pyle, Ken Peaton, and Billy Powell ran to get some. Artemis had been seriously injured with his ribs broken, and Billy had a badly broken nose as they stumbled away from the wreck. Johnny Moat, a 22-year-old dairy farmer and factory worker, was putting some hay out when the three bloody survivors stumbling through the cow pasture called him for help. Startled at the sight of the bloody men, thinking they were escaped felons, he fired a warning shot from a shotgun over their heads. Artemis would later claim he was shot in the shoulder. A claim Johnny would deny repeatedly. Moat realized the situation when they shouted that there had been a plane crash, helped them inside his house, and was part of the initial rescue party. Three helicopters from the Coast Guard, National Guard, and Forest County General Hospital were the first on the scene within 30 minutes of the crash. They used their spotlights to light up the ground and assist the ground-based rescue efforts to locate the site of the downplain. They stayed on site to assist in the rescue operations, transporting medical personnel to the scene and lighting the crash site with floodlights. First responders, which included local hunters and farmers on the ground, had to wade through a water hole to get to the crash site, and once there, they had to remove band instruments and further tear the plane apart to free trapped survivors. The thick undergrowth of the swamp hampered rescue operations, and several emergency vehicles became stuck in the mud when they tried to drive through the woods to get close to the aircraft. Many of the survivors were transported by pickup trucks to area hospitals when ambulances could not get through. Rescue crews were also hindered by a 20-foot-wide, waist deep creek they had to cross to reach the plane. They had to bring in two bulldozers to cut a road through the woods and brush from the nearby Mississippi State Highway 568. Nearly everyone on board was injured and taken to one of the nearby hospitals, where identification of the victims was complicated by the fact that several of them were playing poker before the plane crashed and had their wallets with their IDs out. While most of the passengers would survive, when everything finally settled down, six lives were lost in the crash, including singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist and vocalist Steve Gaines, backup vocalist Casey Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary, and co-pilot William Gray. Steve and Casey Gaines, who were brother and sister, were buried October 23rd in Miami. Private services were held for Ronnie Van Zant October 25th in the Jacksonville Memory Garden. Billy Powell on crutches with his face stitched up was the only band member able to attend. Other friends attending included Dickie Betts, Charlie Daniels, Al Cooper, Tom Dowd, and members of Grindr Switch, 38 Special, and the Atlanta Rhythm section. Two weeks after the crash, in the November 5th, 1977 issue of Billboard magazine, a two-page ad appeared with a black background and white script reading, Thank you God for sparing Ronnie's band. There isn't a song that can express our feelings for Ronnie, Steve, Casey, and Dean. Atlanta Rhythm section, Studio 1, Doraville, Georgia. The second page listed the name of the three dead players and their manager. NCA Records would end up pulling the Street Survivors album and replacing the cover with a different design. This time a photo of the band striking a similar pose against a plain black background. Which is it's a little ironic, because they got rid of the flames, but there was no flames in the crash. The album would end up going on to rise through the charts to become the band's second platinum-selling album, hitting number 5 in the US. During the investigation, they discovered that the right engine's magneto, the airplane equivalent to a spark plug, had been malfunctioning, thus making possible that the damaged magneto fooled the pilots into creating an abnormally rich fuel mixture, causing the conveyor to literally run out of fuel. The NTSB determined the likely cause was fuel exhaustion and total loss of power on both engines due to crew inattention to the fuel supply. They further found that the fuel exhaustion was caused by deficient flight planning and an engine malfunction of undetermined nature in the right engine, which resulted in higher than normal fuel consumption. In interviews decades after the crash, Artemis Pyle would say that the pilots, panicking when the right engine failed, accidentally dumped the remaining fuel. Of course, in another interview with Howard Stern, Pyle stated that the fuel gauge in the plane malfunctioned and the pilots had failed to manually check the tanks before taking off. In 1987, Leonard Skinnard reunited for a full-scale tour with Crash Survivors Gary Rossington, Billy Powell, Leon Wilkinson, and Artemis Pyle, and former guitarist Ed King. Ronnie Van Zant's younger brother Johnny took over as the new lead singer and primary songwriter. On March 16, 2006, members of Leonard Skinner were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, including Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Gary Rossington, Alan King, no, Alan Collins, Ed King, and Steve Gaines, bassist Leon Wilkinson, keyboard player Billy Powell, and drummers Bob Burns and Artemis Pyle. Alright, so a few notes on sources for this one. I primarily use the NTSB report for most of the details, as well as a few websites and interviews. I also watched the Street Survivors movie put out a few years ago by Artemis. Now I have a few issues with it, least of all him being a registered sex offender. He's definitely an unreliable narrator who changed his story numerous times over the year. And I found it kinda funny that his quote-unquote true account had him as the hero. And look, I get it, there's three sides to every story. Your side, my side, and somewhere in there, the truth. Which, okay, doesn't necessarily mean someone's lying. We all see things through our own personal perspective and our own biases, no matter how well-meaning we are. But when your side of the story goes against multiple survivor accounts, eyewitness statements, hospital reports, and the NTSB report, you might just be a lying pile of shit. I will say though, in all fairness, he did go to get help and he did help pull people from the wreckage. But some of the stuff in the movie I highly doubt very much. But hey, according to him, it's the whole truth. Which I guess is easy to say when you're the last man standing and there's no one else left alive that was there to dispute your version of events. And that was the Leonard Skinner plane crash. Thanks for listening, and if you like the show, please consider leaving a rating or review on your Apple Choice. You can reach out to the show at histories of disaster at gmail.com with questions, comments, or suggestions. As well as following the show on social media like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, whatever. And share the episode. Your friends will love it. And take care of yourself out there. Pet a penguin. Listen to better music. Live for today, because tomorrow is never guaranteed. Thanks and goodbye.