cassie gaines cause of death

Road crew member Steve Lawler, who suffered severe contusions and facial lacerations, was taken to the hospital in a pickup with a camper top. 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 Cassie Gaines, a member of the backing vocal trio known as the Honkettes and sister of guitarist Steve Gaines, was so petrified that she nearly squeezed in the band's cramped equipment truck. Artimus Pyle was also notoriously outspoken against the plane and on several occasions would take buses to shows. He says he first came in the 80s after he graduated. Pyle maintains in the Howard Stern interview that the fuel gauge in the older model plane malfunctioned and the pilots had failed to manually check the tanks before taking off. Soon after the plane would begin to jerk and shake violently. Powells nose had been nearly ripped from his face after crashing head first through a table. With my camera at the ready, the translator and I stood watch on the prow of the brightly colored wooden boat as we plowed the exotic coastline. ", "And everybody says they were the first one there. she asked me as we talked. The other band members Collins, Gary Rossington, Wilkeson, Powell, Artimus Pyle, and Hawkins, tour manager Ron Eckerman, and several road crew suffered . On October 20, 1977, they would board a flight bound for Louisiana that would crash in Gillsberg, Missippi and claim the lives of band members Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, along with Pilot Walter McCreary, and co-pilot William Gray. Cassie joined the team and became one of the three members of The Honkette's, a female gospel vocal trio of Lynyrd Skynyrd. Original cover for Street Survivors, 1977Notably, the third member of The Honkettes, JoJo Billingsley, was not on the plane and in fact was home tending to a family member's illness. Allen Collins kept moving on, eventually getting together with Gary Rossington to form the Rossington Collins Band. As the bulletins continued, they became more descriptive: "Tractors were pulling ambulances across a creek" was one exaggerated quote I remember so well. You are already subscribed to our newsletter! As we walked, Easely pointed to a towering pine. Artimus has had many ups and downs since then, several incarcerations, and a huge falling out with Gary. Ronnie had died instantly upon impact, his head slamming into a tree. It was there that he struck up a fractured conversation. Brenda Martin, 17 at the time, lived with her husband, Johnny Mote (now divorced) in their mobile home on the north side of the crash site. For members Gary Rossington and Allen Collins, the weight of what happened seemed to push down on them the most. Mother of Lynyrd Skynyrd members Cassie Gaines and Steve Gaines. Birth Name: Cassie LaRue Gaines Occupation: Rock Singer Place Of Birth: Missouri Date Of Birth: January 9, 1948 Date Of Death: October 20, 1977 Cause Of Death: N/A Ethnicity: White Nationality: American Cassie Gaines was born on the 9th of January, 1948. Marc Frank, a 24-year-old roadie traveling with the band, noticed what seemed to be fuel spewing from the right engine. Gary continues on the band with Ronnies brother, Johnny Van Zant, and guitarist Ricky Medlocke. Before long, he noticed three men emerge from the dense woods along the pasture. Marc Frank recalled hearing both engines on the plane then within a matter of minutes, just air passing over the cabin. However, it is believed that the pilots were trying to transfer oil from one engine to another when they accidentally jettisoned the fuel instead. He then assembled a convoy of trucks and four-wheelers to locate the crash site and rescue the survivors. At this point, for Artimus Pyle, Marc Frank, and Ken Peden, the only sensible thing left to do was to leave certain death at the crash site, for uncertainty in the swamp. Violent, wild, and belligerent, Ronnie was a force to be reckoned with. I was a young graphic artist at the time. It is possible that the damaged magneto fooled the pilots into creating an exceptionally rich fuel mixture, causing the Convair to run out of fuel. I told him that it was the strongest thing I had seen a man do.. The band regularly has different people sit in and play shows with them like Warren Haynes and Dicky Betts. Rock Musician. And to Brenda's point, he's writing a book. 10 Details About the Fatal Plane Crash that Was the Death of Lynyrd 2023 Getty Images. Yen.com.gh shared an interesting piece on Bianca Lawson age, parents, husband, kids, net worth, and movies. Lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines and singer Cassie Gaines were all killed in the crash, and the . Tangled by underbrush and the 20-foot creek, the rescue team had to act and think fast. Photo: Pinterest. The Convair 240 itself had been inspected by members of Aerosmith's flight crew for possible use in the early summer of 1977, but was rejected because it was felt that neither the plane nor the crew were up to standards. One band member, JoJo Billingsly, was not on the flight. memorial page for Cassie LaRue Hatfield Gaines (26 Nov 1926-15 Feb 1979), Find a Grave Memorial ID 37010431, citing Jacksonville Memory . Also Known As: Cassie LaRue Gaines Died At Age: 29 Family: mother: Cassie LaRue Gaines Died Young Rock Singers Died on: October 20, 1977 place of death: Gillsburg, Mississippi, United States U.S. State: Oklahoma Cause of Death: Plane Crash Recommended Lists: American Celebrities Film & Theater Personalities American Women Women Singers At the end of the day, Ronnie and the boys are gone and we lost a rock n roll angel on October 20, 1977. Aerosmith's touring family was also relieved because the band, specifically Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, had been trying to pressure their management into renting that specific plane. Buker had noticed the flight crew passing around liquor bottles while aboard the plane. The choppers belonged to the Coast Guard, National Guard and Forrest County General Hospital, who were doing their best to ferry people in, and illuminate the crash site. I obviously didn't know what I was doing. Thats when most of the sober members of the band saw that the right propeller was no longer working. But sadly when he drank, which was quite often, his demeanor and character qualities changed drastically. In 1977, lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Stevie Gaines and Gaines sister, Cassie Gaines, were killed in a plane crash. When the group asked Ronnies father how he was, he simply replied Hes fine. He suffered a heart attack while on break from tour. Bianca is an American actress. The cockpit, tail, and wings completely ripped apart and the remaining cab lay desolate, in the shape of an L. The plane was simply not built well enough to even remotely handle the impact from the pine trees at roughly 90 mph. 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. They all died but we didnt. 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. We were shocked, as were most others hearing the news. The band was reaching fever pitch with its fans across the South and the nation. The album would reach gold in ten days after release and it would eventually go double platinum. 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. Lead vocalist and founding member of the southern rock band, Ronnie Van Zant, also lost his life in the accident. Artimus Pyle, drummer for the band, stops for a quick picture while en route to the next show. Mote recalls the first thing he saw was a bloody hand sticking out from the wreckage. They were scheduled to perform at the Louisiana State University. "I had expertise on what to do and growing up in Amite County, Mississippi didn't hurt. Over the ridge, a World War II vintage Willis Jeep crawled down a dusty logging trail. 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. Billy had taken too long on his intro to the song Free Bird and that didnt set well with Ronnie. 1 on iTunes Charts, 36 songs, no apologies: Morgan Wallen delivers more (much more) of what made him countrys king, David Lindley, guitarist best known for work with Jackson Browne, dies at 78, Desperate mountain residents trapped by snow beg for help; We are coming, sheriff says, Look up: The 32 most spectacular ceilings in Los Angeles, Winter storms ease drought conditions in California, report shows, 19 cafes that make L.A. a world-class coffee destination, Best coffee city in the world? In the beginning, the singer was reluctant to board the aircraft and had already bought another commercial flight ticket. 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. 5 album. Rescuers look over the wreckage of the 1977 Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash. Where Did We Find This Stuff? His first impression was, "What is a bunch of hippies doing on an airplane? 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. In this video you will see the true story behind the tragic passing of Ronnie Van Zant, Cassie Gaines, Dean Kilpatrick, and Steve Gaines on October 20, 1977. In the ensuing chaos, souvenir hunters took billfolds, jewelry, suitcases, band merchandise and even chunks of metal from the crash site. "Sweet Home Alabama" became the southern anthem for millions. A spokesperson for the band's record label said Wilkeson died in his sleep Friday at a hotel near Jacksonville, Florida. You have permission to edit this article. In a separate interview, revealing the story of sound man Paul Welch who suffered traumatic injuries in this crash and was sent into a coma, shares that the plane that was utilized during this trip was already catching fire around the engine area and Lynyrd Skynyrd had requested to cease using it. It wasn't a Cessna; it was a Convair CV 240, a twin engine, 40-passenger plane that was down in heavy woods near Gillsburg. Small and cramped, it still felt better than lift-off of the Convair CV-240. Artimus Pyle and Gary Rossington are the only two members alive today from the crash. Some were screaming and moaning for help, but they were all limp. The Tragic Death Of Lynyrd Skynyrd's Ronnie Van Zant - Grunge.com "Seems like everyone is writing a book. Steve Gaines was killed instantly upon impact and his sister Cassie Gaines perished as well. Without wanting to cause alarm he thought to himself that maybe the pilots were trying to transfer fuel from one engine to another. Artimus has had many ups and downs since then, several incarcerations, and a huge falling out with Gary. Cassie Gaines - Wikipedia Van Zant, Steve and Cassie Gaines, Kilpatrick and the pilots were laid in a temporary morgue at a local high school gymnasium. The official report of the crash read: "The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determines that the probable cause of this accident was fuel exhaustion and total loss of power from both engines due to crew inattention to the fuel supply. Gene Odom, Lynyrd Skynyrds bodyguard, recalls: They took my watch, my wallet, my ring, and my money as I lay bleeding on the ground. I dont know who you think we are but we were on a plane and the plane crashed out there on the other side of that cow pasture. Mote instantly connected the dots to the sound he heard earlier and the men that lay before him. In 1986, his car ran off a road and crashed into a culvert, paralyzing him from the waist down and killing his girlfriend. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. Pyle, Frank, and Peden were met with hostility when they finally came up to Mote. Dwain Easley still lives on the east side of the crash site. Artimus Pyle emerged with several broken ribs, and bleeding everywhere you could. Truth be known, after 38 years, Martin is a little tired of talking about the whole thing. Sadly, it would end all to soon. Sang background vocals (one of the Honkettes) for Lynyrd Skynyrd. The tail section broke off, the cockpit broke off and buckled underneath, then both wings broke off. Marc Frank, a 24-year-old roadie traveling with the band, noticed what seemed to be fuel spewing from the right engine. On one occasion after a show, he approached Billy Powell who was the bands keyboard player, and punched him so hard in the mouth he knocked his two front teeth out. So on the prow of this small boat, plowing the coastal water on the other side of the world, he and I abandoned inhibition with an unabashed air guitar jam. Losing daylight, the pilots desperately looked for an open field or some kind of saving grace. He, like me, was 21-years-old at the time. Cassie was buried in Orange Park, Florida, together with her brother, Steve Gains. Violent, wild, and belligerent, Ronnie was a force to be reckoned with. The band leased a new Convair CV-240 to help them get between shows easier. I knew I could take photographs if I could get there. Both pilots were lost in the crash as well, however, a decent amount of fans seek the closure of their conviction of attempted manslaughter, even in death. The rest of the group had no idea at the time that they would never see the face of Ronnie again. "It was the saddest thing," she recalls, 11 years later. Headline from a local newspaper reporting the crash. The flight was going good so far and other than Ronnie getting severely intoxicated while on the flight, all seemed to be setting up to be another routine flight. Here are 10 facts about Lynyrd Skynyrd and their fateful end. Cassie Gaines cause of death The talented singer met her death at the young age of 29. Artimus Pyle emerged with several broken ribs, and bleeding everywhere you could. Deceased people hanging from trees, the other survivors moaning for help of any kind, and completely surrounded by a black swamp whose canopy is blocking the only light that is trying so desperately to shine through. "I was well prepared with advanced trauma life support training," he said, "and (I was) a flight surgeon in the military.