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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 singer 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 the release of ''Street Survivors'', Lynyrd Skynyrd's chartered Convair CV-240 ran out of fuel near the end of the flight from Greenville, South Carolina, where they had performed at the Greenville Memorial Auditorium, and were en route to LSU in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The pilots attempted an emergency landing on a small airstrip, but the plane crashed in a forest near Gillsburg, Mississippi. Lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist/vocalist Steve Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary, and co-pilot William Gray all died on impact and backing vocalist Cassie Gaines (Steve's older sister) bled to death at the site.〔Behind the Music Remastered on VH1〕 Keyboardist Billy Powell's nose was nearly torn off as he suffered severe facial lacerations (as well as deep lacerations to his right knee), and he later caused a controversy by giving a lurid account of Cassie Gaines' final moments on a VH1 ''Behind The Music'' special about the band, claiming that the backup singer's throat was cut from ear to ear and that she bled to death in his arms. Powell also claimed that Ronnie Van Zant's head had been smashed. Powell's version of events has been disputed by both Artimus Pyle and Judy Van Zant Jenness, who posted the autopsy reports on the band's web site in early 1998 in order to "set the record straight", while essentially confirming Powell's account.〔Brant 2002, p. 155.〕 The third member of The Honkettes, JoJo Billingsley, was not on the plane and was home sick; she had been planning to join the tour in Little Rock, Arkansas, on October 23.〔Brant 2002, p. 147.〕 Billingsley claimed that she had dreamed of the plane crash and begged Allen Collins by telephone not to continue using the Convair.〔Brant 2002, p. 151.〕 The Convair CV-240 had been inspected by members of Aerosmith's flight crew for possible use earlier in 1977, but was rejected because it was felt that neither the plane nor the crew were up to standards. Aerosmith's assistant chief of flight operations Zunk Buker tells of seeing pilots McCreary and Gray passing a bottle of Jack Daniel's back and forth while he and his father were inspecting the plane. 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.〔Davis 1997, p. 304.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「1977 Convair CV-300 crash」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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