Several members of the band Lynyrd Skynyrd were killed in a light aircraft accident in 1977.
Lynyrd Skynrd were formed in 1964, by school friends Ronnie Van Zant, Allen Collins, and Gary Rossington as the Noble Five and, after several name changes, became Lynyrd Skynyrd, in 1970. The name is an adaptation of Leonard Skinner, a P.E teacher at the school attended by the three founding members of the band, who was disliked because of his enthusiasm for enforcing a policy which banned long hair on boys at the school.
By the mid 1970’s Lynyrd Skynyrd were enjoying considerable success. Their album Street Survivors had only just been released when, whilst travelling by chartered aircraft to the next venue on their tour, they were involved in a fatal air accident.
Three members of the band, (Ronnie Van Zant, Cassie Gaines & Steve Gaines), were killed along with the pilots and one of their road managers, Dean Kilpatrick. Other passengers, including band members and road crew, were seriously injured.
After the crash the album Street Survivors became the band's second platinum selling album reaching No. 5 in the U.S. album chart. The original cover sleeve for Street Survivors had featured a photograph of the band members engulfed in flames. Out of respect for those who died in the accident MCA Records withdrew that version of the cover and replaced it with an alternative image of the band against a plain black background. When the deluxe CD version of the album was released some thirty years later, the original "flames" cover was used once again.
Lynyrd Skynyrd disbanded after the tragedy but have since reunited, (in 1987), and are still performing today albeit with only one member of the original lineup.
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