Following a performance at the Greenville Memorial Auditorium in Greenville, South Carolina , on October 20, 1977, the band boarded a chartered Convair CV-240 bound for Baton Rouge, Louisiana , where they were scheduled to appear at Louisiana State University the following night. After running out of fuel, the pilots attempted an emergency landing before crashing in a heavily forested area five miles northeast of Gillsburg, Mississippi . Killed on impact were Ronnie Van Zant and Steve Gaines, along with backup singer Cassie Gaines (Steve’s older sister), assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary and co-pilot John Gray. Other band members (Collins, Rossington, Wilkeson, Powell, Pyle, and Hawkins), tour manager Ron Eckerman, and several road crew members suffered serious injuries.
Following a performance at the Greenville Memorial Auditorium in
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