The fuselage turned sideways and everyone was hurled forward. Artimus and Ken Peden ran to get help, Artimus with his ribs sticking out. I felt for my nose and it wasn’t – it was on the side of my face. I kicked my way out and felt for my hands. Artimus crawled out of the top, said there was a swamp, maybe alligators. I crashed into a table people were hit with flying objects all over the ‘plane. The trees kept getting bigger and bigger… there was a sound like someone hitting the outside of the ‘plane with hundreds of baseball bats. The pilot said he was trying for a field, but I did not see one. … I felt at that moment that everyone was speaking to their concept, whatever it was, of God. Billy Powell, Keyboards, 1997.īefore the wreck, there was no hysteria. His eyes were bugged out in fear but he managed to tell us all to get back to our seats and make sure every one was strapped in. Artimus and I raced to the cockpit and saw the pilot was clearly in shock. I went up to the cockpit after the right engine started sputtering … they told me not to worry, they were just transferring oil from one wing to the next… before we knew it, the right engine went dead. They were young and they panicked, so they jettisoned the fuel by accident. We had just been partying out of boredom. We had no drugs on board, no pot and very little beer. Just before that we’d been dancing in the aisles. The co-pilot turned to me and said “tell everyone to strap in, quick”. Billy Powell, keyboards, 1977.Īs soon as the engine started to sputter, I ran to the cockpit because my Father was killed in a ‘plane accident…. I heard the pilot say “Oh my God” and the right engine went out. We were only 10 minutes from Baton Rouge and everyone was dancing because it had been a long flight. I was in Nashville and planning on going to Little Rock the next day… I got the call from George Osaki on the West Coast, telling me about the ‘plane crash and for me not to do anything because I might have to go down to McComb Mississippi… I may have to identify bodies… Leon Tsilis, Florida MCA promotion rep. ….the place we were buying the airplane from in Dallas was sending a mechanic to Baton Rouge to work on the ‘plane and make it right. Clayton Johnson, Production / Stage Manager for Lynyrd Skynyrd.Ĭassie (Gaines) had reservations to go on a commercial flight to go from Greenville to Baton Rouge because she did not trust the ‘plane. Ronnie’s going to get on, the rest of us get on. But when Ronnie decided to get on that plane, the show must go on. Several people booked commercial flights…. The fuel mixture was wrong … there was an explosion… a flame six feet long from the right engine. Just before the last trip, the engine almost caught fire. And we had a couple of extra people, one gentleman from Rolling Stone that was going to do a cover story. And we had it fixed up like a tour bus, and we had it pretty much maxed out at 26 people aboard. This plane was a Corvair 240 and it was built in 1947 for Eastern Airlines and it had originally carried about 10 people. Taken from: Lynyrd Skynyrd, an Oral History, by Lee Ballinger.
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