Lynyrd skynyrd plane crash who died (2024)

I did some triage I had learned in the Marine Corps, on a couple of people. I got out through a hole underneath me, pushed through the jagged metal, cut myself up. The pilots were responsible for a lot of it. Every plane crash has several things that happen in a row to cause it. They trusted the gauges on a 1947 Convair, which is stupid. They didn’t check the wing tanks to make sure they were fueled. Why didn’t I do that? The pilot and copilot didn’t know what they were doing. What am I supposed to do, punch the guy in the face and drag him out of the co*ckpit when we’re that close to the ground, then fly the plane myself? Years later, I thought about it. He said, “Artimus, you had better go back and strap yourself in.” What I really heard him say was, “If you want to live, you had better get out of this co*ckpit.” All the while I was playing stewardess, going back and forth from the co*ckpit, saying, “Put out your damn cigarettes, tighten your seat belts, brace for impact, get something to put in your lap.” When I went back to the co*ckpit for the last time, the pilot turned around. if we landed on I-55, we would have wanted our landing gear down. If we were to belly land in a field, the landing gear would trip us. Then they tried to get it back up, but didn’t have enough power. I heard a guy named Clayton Johnson, who worked for Bill Graham and was looking out of the window, say one word, “Trees.”Īnother mistake the pilots made is that they lowered the landing gear. When we came out, we were over trees, close to the tops. That’s the front of the plane.’ But we were in the heat of the moment.At one point, we became a glider in the clouds looking for a hole to land. When he came past me, I thought, ‘Bad idea.

He stopped right at my seat on the way, and we did the old hippie handshake. When he stayed in the back of the plane, I thought, ‘Good idea.’ But he came forward with a crimson velour velvet pillow. Anyway, when we got on the plane, he and I shook hands, and I could see in his eyes that he knew. You’re going to live forever.” Well, he was in his saddle with his boots on going to a gig on tour. At the time, I just said, “Oh Ronnie, don’t talk like that. He told me in Tokyo, Japan, that he would never live to see 30, and that he would go out with his boots on. When I got on that plane, stepped onto the back and climbed up, Ronnie said, “Ok we’re all here, let’s go.” If Ronnie says go, then it’s go. We were so happy just to have gigs that we didn’t question things when we should have. “In the crash, I lost cartilage in both knees and tore ligaments, ability to stand was negatively affected.”ĭespite the severe injuries, Welch and the other survivors are happy to still be alive.Ĭopyright 2023 by WJXT News4JAX - All rights reserved.They shouldn’t have ever taken off. “I was working for ShowCo, which was at that time assigned to work the Lynyrd Skynyrd Tour,” Welch said. His skull was fractured and suffered other severe injuries.

Paul Welch worked on the sound for “The Tour of the Survivors” at 23 years old. Hundreds of people gathered to listen to several rock bands such as Slickson Revolver and Street Preacher and participated in a silent auction to support a good cause.

Back then they didn’t really have the best insurance,” Reed said. They were employed by other bands, and some of the people were employed by the band. “A lot of the people that were on the plane weren’t actually directly employed by the band. MORE: Southern rock legend Lynyrd Skynyrd adds 2nd show in St. Lynyrd Skynyrd was leaving South Carolina and heading to Louisiana when their plane started misfunctioning and crashed in Mississippi.Ĭhad Reed, with Survivor Film and Productions, said they are doing this fundraiser to help the survivors pay their medical bills and living expenses. Among those people killed were several members of the rock band with Jacksonville roots, Lynyrd Skynyrd. In October 1977, six people died and 20 people were severely injured in a plane crash. – A production company put together a fundraiser Saturday to help out five survivors of the Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash that left them still dealing with health problems 40 years later.