who died in lynyrd skynyrd's plane crash

When the crew filed their flight plan on the day of the accident, they planned for 2 hours and 45 minutes of flight (2+45) to travel the roughly 550-600 nautical miles between Greenville and Baton Rouge, with five hours of fuel aboard (5+00). However, according to their report, 'Normal average fuel consumption for the Convair 240 aircraft powered with the Pratt and Whitney R2800CB-16 engine is about 183 gallons per hour.' That's a useful data point in and of itself. There's no record as to how much was aboard when they filled up that I can find the NTSB investigators did their best to make such a calculation, to no avail. The aircraft involved was refueled two days before the accident upon its arrival at Greenville SC, with 400 gallons of the appropriate type of fuel. Having offered up the above framing thoughts regarding aviation-related death among the influential, let's get into the specifics of the Lynyrd Skynyrd accident itself. I personally think there's a common thread among them that might apply to the accident asked about in this question as well. Keep this observation in mind as you read on. However, it's somewhat astonishing to note how often luminaries like those on the list above died in non-scheduled operations that they themselves were not flying. (If you'd like to see a much longer and more depressing set of lists of this type, check out Wikipedia's List of fatalities from aviation accidents and 'Plane Crash Info' ( Image)).Īircraft accidents were hardly unusual events during the first half of what has come to be referred to as 'The Century of Flight' - the 100 years starting with the Wright Brothers' first flight in December of 1903. Hale Boggs, Nick Begich, Mickey Leland, and Ted Stevens - all members of Congress - died under similar circumstances, as did sitting Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown (in a dedicated VIP airlift aircraft). Whole sports teams and NASCAR crews have been decimated in such events, as well as individual standouts like Roberto Clemente. Perhaps a little more thinking and digging might be in order, first to zero in a little more on the 'why,' and then perhaps to a certain extent to consider the 'WTF' of how the crew got themselves in this situation in the first place.Ī number of years ago, once I started getting interested in aviation safety in an organized way rather than just as a matter of self-preservation, it started becoming pretty obvious to me that a lot of popular entertainers, illustrious sports figures, powerful politicians, and other celebrities have died in plane crashes over time.Ĭonsider high-profile performers like Patsy Cline, Richie Valens, Buddy Holly and Jiles Richardson (the 'Big Bopper'), Jim Croce, Ricky Nelson, Aaliyah, Ronnie Van Zant and Steve Gaines, Audie Murphy, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jenni Rivera, Soundarya, and most of Reba McEntire's band all died in non-scheduled aircraft crashes. Before the crash, the crew called air traffic controllers to request a divert to a nearby airport, stating they were 'low on fuel.' The fact that a pretty big aircraft balled up while attempting a forced landing at twilight isn't all that surprising. The fact that there wasn't much, if any, fuel aboard is evident from the lack of a post-crash fire. Okay - those are the unvarnished, bare-bones words from those responsible for making the determination. the Safety Board believes that the discrepancy was of a general nature, such as an ignition or induction problem, and was not a major mechanical failure.' So, bottom line: the plane ran out of gas and crashed. In the body of the report, the NTSB clarified that the engine malfunction itself most likely wasn't that big a deal: 'Although examination of the engine and its components did not identify the exact discrepancy.

Contributing to the fuel exhaustion were inadequate flight planning and an engine malfunction of undetermined nature in the right engine which resulted in higher-than-normal fuel consumption.' 'The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was fuel exhaustion and total loss of power from both engines due to crew inattention to fuel supply. (The original airliner's was designed to carry up to 40 passengers, but this charter aircraft was equipped with tables and couches that cut into that number pretty significantly.)Īs far as what caused the crash itself, the investigators concluded the following: The aircraft itself was chock-full of people - it was configured for 24 passengers, and that's what it was carrying. Of the 26 crew and passengers aboard, both pilots and four passengers were killed, and the 20 survivors all were injured to varying degrees. The type of aircraft involved in the accident was a chartered, 30 year old Convair 240 owned and operated by L & J Company. The crash itself took place on October 20, 1977.

Who died in lynyrd skynyrd's plane crash