She said local hospital employees worked through the night to help crash victims without knowing some of them were famous.Ĭurrie said she has always been a fan of the band’s music: “I spent a lot of time in the summers … listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd and having way, way, way too much fun. Beckie Currie of Brookhaven, who was a student nurse at the time of the crash. Among those pushing for it was Republican Rep. Mississippi legislators passed a bill requiring the state to provide exit signs for the crash monument.
Those killed were singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, his sister and backing vocalist Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary and co-pilot William Gray. Lynyrd Skynyrd, the rock band famous for Sweet Home Alabama' and Free Bird, now has highway signs pointing to the site of the Mississippi plane crash that claimed the. Of the 26 people on the plane, 20 survived. And that was without directions leading to the remote site 8 miles west of Interstate 55 - in a place with no cellphone service for navigation. The event has been memorialized in both songs as well as in. The monument has become one of the biggest tourist attractions in southwest Mississippi, since drawing 4,500 people from 13 countries, 39 states and five Canadian provinces. Fans & Former Member Of Lynyrd Skynyrd Mark Anniversary Of The Tragic Plane Crash. It’s very difficult to get to and there are no markings,” said said Bobby McDaniel, president of the Lynyrd Skynyrd Monument Project. “People were always asking where the crash site is.
Three large granite markers were put up in Gillsburg in 2019, but until the exit signs were recently added, many people had to guess how to find the site in a wooded area near the Louisiana state line. 20, 1977, plane crash that killed some members of the band. Those killed were singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, his sister and backing vocalist Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary and co-pilot William Gray.The signs provide direction toward a monument commemorating the Oct. And that was without directions leading to the remote site 8 miles (13 kilometers) west of Interstate 55 - in a place with no cellphone service for navigation. There probably wasn’t a living soul in those days who couldn’t sing at least a. At the moment the tragedy unfolded, Lynyrd Skynyrd was already a well established rock band, if not one of the most prominent of the 1970s. The monument has become one of the biggest tourist attractions in southwest Mississippi, since drawing 4,500 people from 13 countries, 39 states and five Canadian provinces. Aerosmith said no to the plane and Billingsley allegedly sent a warning, but they boarded and the air crash did happen. “People were always asking where the crash site is. We look back at the 15 Strange Facts About Lynyrd Skynyrd Fatal Plane Crash: The Day The Music Died The phrase the day the music died, a phrase taken from the song American Pie by Don McLean, refers to the tragic plane crash that occurred on February 3, 1959, in Clear Lake, Iowa (United States). The signs provide direction toward a monument commemorating the Oct. (AP) - Lynyrd Skynyrd, the rock band famous for “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Free Bird,” now has highway signs pointing to the site of the Mississippi plane crash that claimed the lives of some of its members.įans gathered Sunday as the Mississippi Department of Transportation unveiled exit signs from Interstate 55 near McComb and state Highway 568 near Gillsburg, the Enterprise-Journal reported. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.
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