Musicians and Flying Machines in Pieces on the Ground

Because musicians virtually live on the road, and fly small planes to remote outposts, there is a long history of plane crashes claiming music talent. Famous performers to die in aviation accidents include Buddy Holly, Otis Redding, Glenn Miller, Patsy Cline, Jim Croce, Aaliyah, and John Denver. On this day, Oct. 20, 1977, legendary Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd's tour plane crashed in Mississippi, killing six, including lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines and his sister, backup singer Cassie Gaines. The band had been on their way from Greenville, S.C., to a concert at Louisiana State University of Baton Rouge as part of an 80-show tour for the release of their sixth album, "Street Survivors." The chartered two-propeller airplane crashed in a swamp just outside Gillsburg, Mississippi, at 7:00 p.m. The pilot's last report was a radio message to McComb Airport, advising of engine trouble. Due to earlier engine problems, "[w]e had decided the night before that we would definitely get rid of the plane in Baton Rouge," survivor Billy Powell told Rolling Stone magazine, "so we started partying to celebrate the last flight on it." In midflight, the right engine "went dead." Read the full story. October 20 is also the birthday of Robert Pinsky, founder of the Favorite Poem Project and former United States Poet Laureate.