The Truth Behind Ronnie Van Zant’s LAST Ride

“Ronnie Didn’t Make It…”

In this video you will see the true story behind the tragic passing of Ronnie Van Zant, Cassie Gaines, Dean Kilpatrick, and Steve Gaines on October 20, 1977.

Band confidant, Gene Odum, is privately interviewed to share his story on what happened on this awful day in history. There have been several different theories as to the culprits of this unfortunate crashing that point the finger toward “watcher by” Artimus, as well as the pilots of the plane themselves.

In a separate interview, revealing the story of sound man Paul Welch who suffered traumatic injuries in this crash and was sent into a coma, shares that the plane that was utilized during this trip was already catching fire around the engine area and Lynyrd Skynyrd had requested to cease using it. However, they were apparently talked into using it just “one more time” which happened to be their last ride. Coincidence?

In Gene’s interview, he mentions that he ran to the cock pit and to alert the pilots of the exploded engine and their response was “Nothins wrong. Sit down.” The plane had taken off with a “faulty” gasoline gauge that “fooled” the pilots into thinking that the plane was equipped with the appropriate amount of gas to reach their destination. He claims that Artimus Pyle, drummer for Lynyrd Skynyrd, survived scathe-less and crawled into the bushes watching Ronnie and the others die in this horrid fiery crash. Apparently, Artimus had been quoted saying that “Ronnie got up, went to the back of the plane and gave him a ‘hippy’ handshake” but Gene was quite persistent on the fact that it was complete bull.

Obviously it is hard to dictate the correct story when various opinions and recollections are thrown out, however, it seems to us as though the pilots were aware of the faulty issues of the plane, did not check to make sure that the plane had enough gas, and did not seem to make an attempt to alert the passengers of their timely death. Both pilots were lost in the crash as well, however, a decent amount of fans seek the closure of their conviction of attempted manslaughter, even in death.

At the end of the day, Ronnie and the boys are gone and we lost a rock n roll angel on October 20, 1977.

RIP Ronnie, Cassie, Dean, and Steve.