Trouble began for the hard-partying band a year before the plane crash, when guitarist Gary Rossington plowed his brand-new car into a tree along a Jacksonville, Fla., road. It is indisputably the creepiest prediction, but the fiery Street Survivors cover wasn’t the first prediction of deadly events for Skynyrd. In fact, Lynyrd Skynyrd have managed to earn the dubious distinction of “ unluckiest band in history” over the years. (Photo: AP)Īlthough the crash remains now and forever the darkest centerpiece in Lynyrd Skynyrd’s legend - as well as a breeding ground for gruesome urban legends surrounding the demise of various members - fans know quite well it’s far from the first or last tragedy the definitive Southern rockers endured. The small plane had 26 people onboard, and six were killed in the crash, including three members of Lynyrd Skynyrd. Stay tuned to the Forbes Lifestyle channel.The wreckage of a twin-engine Convair 240 plane lies in a wooded area near McComb, Miss., on Oct. ( Editor’s Note: In future parts of this interview series with Lynyrd Skynyrd drummer Artimus Pyle, we cover how he went for help after the plane crash, his recent movie, “Street Survivors: The True Story Of The Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash,” Pyle’s current projects, his early drum influences and more. When I saw them, I knew I had to live until I could get some help. It was just flesh and blood to me, because their souls and spirits had already come out of those bodies. One was decapitated, and one was hanging in a tree, body parts. I started putting one foot in front of the other. Every second a drop of blood drips out is a step closer to death. I knew that the only thing that would help them was to go get help. I did some triage I had learned in the Marine Corps, on a couple of people. I got out through a hole underneath me, pushed through the jagged metal, cut myself up. The pilots were responsible for a lot of it. Every plane crash has several things that happen in a row to cause it. They trusted the gauges on a 1947 Convair, which is stupid. They didn’t check the wing tanks to make sure they were fueled. Why didn’t I do that? The pilot and copilot didn’t know what they were doing. What am I supposed to do, punch the guy in the face and drag him out of the cockpit when we’re that close to the ground, then fly the plane myself? Years later, I thought about it. He said, “Artimus, you had better go back and strap yourself in.” What I really heard him say was, “If you want to live, you had better get out of this cockpit.” All the while I was playing stewardess, going back and forth from the cockpit, saying, “Put out your damn cigarettes, tighten your seat belts, brace for impact, get something to put in your lap.” When I went back to the cockpit for the last time, the pilot turned around. if we landed on I-55, we would have wanted our landing gear down. If we were to belly land in a field, the landing gear would trip us. Then they tried to get it back up, but didn’t have enough power. I heard a guy named Clayton Johnson, who worked for Bill Graham and was looking out of the window, say one word, “Trees.”Īnother mistake the pilots made is that they lowered the landing gear. When we came out, we were over trees, close to the tops. That’s the front of the plane.’ But we were in the heat of the moment. At one point, we became a glider in the clouds looking for a hole to land. When he came past me, I thought, ‘Bad idea. He stopped right at my seat on the way, and we did the old hippie handshake. When he stayed in the back of the plane, I thought, ‘Good idea.’ But he came forward with a crimson velour velvet pillow. Anyway, when we got on the plane, he and I shook hands, and I could see in his eyes that he knew. You’re going to live forever.” Well, he was in his saddle with his boots on going to a gig on tour. At the time, I just said, “Oh Ronnie, don’t talk like that. He told me in Tokyo, Japan, that he would never live to see 30, and that he would go out with his boots on. When I got on that plane, stepped onto the back and climbed up, Ronnie said, “Ok we’re all here, let’s go.” If Ronnie says go, then it’s go. We were so happy just to have gigs that we didn’t question things when we should have.
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