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Message
Lynyrd Skynyrd - The Crash 40 Years Ago Today
Posted on 10/20/17 at 1:51 pm
Posted on 10/20/17 at 1:51 pm
I can remember sitting in my room, I was 17 and the next night, I would finally get to see one of my favorite bands, Lynyrd Skynyrd.
The Crash
Two years prior, I had traveled to New Orleans to see them play in the old Tulane Football Stadium as a warm up band to ZZ Top. They no showed and a riot broke out.
After missing the band twice, I decided to keep my un-used ticket as a keepsake. Fast forward to 1991, the band starts a re-union tour in Baton Rouge.
Baton Rouge 1991
That ticket I saved got me in to see the concert and then allowed me back stage to meet the band. I carried a few Album Jackets with me and got the band to autograph. The band was very gracious, but visibly upset at the memory of the loss of their brothers.
This band will always hold a special place in my heart. Their story is an amazing one. There is a very good documentary that aired on AXS TV a few months ago that is well worth the watch.
The Rise and Fall Preview
I raise a toast to you Ronnie Van Zant, may you rest in peace.
The Crash
Two years prior, I had traveled to New Orleans to see them play in the old Tulane Football Stadium as a warm up band to ZZ Top. They no showed and a riot broke out.
After missing the band twice, I decided to keep my un-used ticket as a keepsake. Fast forward to 1991, the band starts a re-union tour in Baton Rouge.
Baton Rouge 1991
That ticket I saved got me in to see the concert and then allowed me back stage to meet the band. I carried a few Album Jackets with me and got the band to autograph. The band was very gracious, but visibly upset at the memory of the loss of their brothers.
This band will always hold a special place in my heart. Their story is an amazing one. There is a very good documentary that aired on AXS TV a few months ago that is well worth the watch.
The Rise and Fall Preview
I raise a toast to you Ronnie Van Zant, may you rest in peace.
10
Posted on 10/20/17 at 2:50 pm to TreeDawg
pourin one out for ronnie. cant beat skynyrd and beer drinkin.
Posted on 10/20/17 at 4:28 pm to TreeDawg
Posted on 10/20/17 at 4:30 pm to TreeDawg
Headed to Play at lsu.
Ran out of fricking gas in plane.
Wtf?
Ran out of fricking gas in plane.
Wtf?
Posted on 10/20/17 at 5:16 pm to R11
quote:
Headed to Play at lsu.
Ran out of fricking gas in plane.
Wtf?
Yep. There are several YouTube videos of survivors talking about the crash and plane conditions. If all true it is amazing the shite that was allowed back then. And especially for a top shelf band that Skynard was by then.
Visible flames out one or both engines.
They apparently miscalculated amount of fuel needed or it was losing fuel? Excess weight.
Amazing what they allowed to fly. Jim Croce? Wasn’t his pilot a fat guy with a heart condition and drunk? Had to run to make their take off time or beat weather out and poor bastard has a heart attack?
This post was edited on 10/20/17 at 5:39 pm
Posted on 10/20/17 at 5:57 pm to TreeDawg
It’s amazing the bands that used to play at the Assembly Center !!!!!
Saw a few, never did see LS though
Saw a few, never did see LS though
Posted on 10/20/17 at 8:17 pm to Cdawg
Damn... road right by van zant park today, and brickyard rd a couple times.
Posted on 10/20/17 at 9:50 pm to TreeDawg
Just got back from the crash site earlier. Overwhelming but yet very peaceful. A toast to a legend.
Posted on 10/20/17 at 9:55 pm to R11
Wasn't Aerosmith supposed to use the plane and refused because it was dangerous and the pilots were openly drinking and using drugs?
Posted on 10/21/17 at 12:30 am to TreeDawg
I was a baby. But seen the second group a couple times and met Gary Rossington.
Posted on 10/21/17 at 6:44 am to TreeDawg
quote:
That ticket I saved got me in to see the concert and then allowed me back stage to meet the band. I carried a few Album Jackets with me and got the band to autograph. The band was very gracious, but visibly upset at the memory of the loss of their brothers.
I and my good friend showed up with no tickets, and just hung around the box office there at the Centroplex. Some dude with an original ticket gave me one of his tickets and a back stage pass since he had no one there to go with. I took the back stage pass and traded it for a ticket for my buddy. We sat with ya'll in the first few rows. It was a truly amazing show. One of the top 2 or 3 I've been too.
The crash happened not far from where I grew up and still have property in the northeastern part of E. Feliciana Parish. I can remember there was a commotion that night, but was too young (6 in '77) to know who they were.
Anybody that's a big fan should read Gene Odom's book
It's told from the perspective of one of Ronnie's oldest and closest friends. His account of the crash (that he himself barely survived) and the aftermath is incredible. He paints a not to kind picture of some of the locals in the Gillsberg area, too. Which is believable.
This post was edited on 10/21/17 at 6:46 am
Posted on 10/21/17 at 11:27 am to Sayre
Was very easy to sneak in the LSU Assembly Center back in the day for concerts!!
Posted on 10/22/17 at 7:52 pm to TreeDawg
quote:
I raise a toast to you Ronnie Van Zant, may you rest in peace.
Don't forget Steve Gaines. He renergized the band.
So did Allen Collins later die from injuries sustained in the crash or from other reasons.
It must have been a great thrill to meet them. I saw an Artimus Pyle recollection of the crash and the survivors were fortunate as hell. And now they're down to just Gary Rossington and Pyle. RIP Freebirds.
This post was edited on 10/22/17 at 7:55 pm
Posted on 10/22/17 at 9:59 pm to TreeDawg
if you don't like skynyrd then frick you
This post was edited on 10/22/17 at 10:00 pm
Posted on 10/22/17 at 10:02 pm to TreeDawg
Damn you 1977!
Skynyrd and Elvis.
Skynyrd and Elvis.
Posted on 10/23/17 at 12:12 am to LSU alum wannabe
quote:
Visible flames out one or both engines. They apparently miscalculated amount of fuel needed or it was losing fuel? Excess weight. Amazing what they allowed to fly. Jim Croce? Wasn’t his pilot a fat guy with a heart condition and drunk? Had to run to make their take off time or beat weather out and poor bastard has a heart attack?
Don't really know about the flames form the engines, but the engines were running rich because of some issue, and the fuel consumption was higher than normal and was a known issue of the plane. If I remember correctly the pilots in the crash were not the usual pilots of this particular plane, they calculated the fuel consumption based on normal fuel burn, and ran the tanks dry.
The NTSB speculated that because of severe coronary artery disease found in the autopsy Croce's pilot might have had a heart attack after running 3 miles form the hotel to the plane. A pilot friend of mine has his own theory, he was there that morning, and saw that Croce was in the right/co-pilots seat when they took off, he said the plane was pretty loaded and they had a long take off role. There was a tree line at the end of the runway, and my friend believes Croce may have thought they were not going to clear it, and instinctively grabbed the yoke and pulled it back stalling the plane.
Posted on 10/23/17 at 6:55 am to Pepe Lepew
quote:
It’s amazing the bands that used to play at the Assembly Center !!!!!
True dat, I saw many legends there: Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Bowie, ELO, Bad Company, Aerosmith, The Who, Genesis, Yes, Rush..........the list goes on. What a great era to grow up in.
Concerts Database
Posted on 10/23/17 at 6:58 am to Bushwackers
quote:
Just got back from the crash site earlier. Overwhelming but yet very peaceful. A toast to a legend.
Man I gotta do this.
I recently found that old Waylon Album, your avatar, in a box of old albums I recently acquired. I had forgot about how huge that "Outlaw Country" movement was back in the 70's. Good stuff!!
Posted on 10/23/17 at 7:03 am to Mizz-SEC
quote:
Don't forget Steve Gaines. He renergized the band.
There is no limit to what his style would have created for the band. There is no denying his impact. Such a loss.
quote:
It must have been a great thrill to meet them.
Man was it, but you could see their pain. Looking back, those old albums jackets I brought prolly triggered them into some feelings of sadness.
Posted on 10/23/17 at 7:22 am to LSU alum wannabe
quote:
Amazing what they allowed to fly. Jim Croce? Wasn’t his pilot a fat guy with a heart condition and drunk? Had to run to make their take off time or beat weather out and poor bastard has a heart attack?
From what I heard through people who claim to be "in the know" when I lived in Natchitoches, the band got word that there would be a raid at their motel after the show so they called the pilot to get set to leave immediately after they got off the stage. The motel he was at on HWY 1 is a good 1.5 miles from the airport (assuming that bridge there was built at the time). That's like 10 miles in fat people distance.
This post was edited on 10/23/17 at 7:24 am
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