Uploaded October 2017 | Updated September 2026, 5 days ago
Note: Like my previous crash site video, I added music that encompassed the feeling and spirit of visiting a tragically beautiful site like this. However, YouTube just removed all music from this video. Lame!!
Frynds - so it has now been 40 years since the Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash....WOW! Rest in peace Ronnie, Cassie, Steve, and Dean. It's so hard to believe that it has been this long - so very sad. Fly on Free Byrds!
Due to the overwhelming response of my Lynyrd Skynyrd crash site video that I posted back in 2014 (as seen here: youtube.com/watch?v=HKp33zskFn4), it just made sense that I go back for the 40th anniversary of this tragic event and post a new video for all of the Skynyrd fans around the world that are unable to make a trip to this hallowed site.
I didn't have all of the issues this time as I did the last time that I was at the site. I bypassed the Asian owners of the chicken farm altogether, but I was still on edge; as you could hear vehicles, dogs, and other people all around the area. I apologize in advance again for the quality of some of the crash site video. As you can imagine, I was trying to film as much as I could, as quickly as possible. A lot of the video is sideways and I was trying to dodge millions of huge spiders and bugs that are everywhere in the Mississippi woods. I was also listening out to avoid being shot! Also, it has just rained earlier and it was muggy - so my lense kept fogging up which made it difficult to get really good, clear shots. I do apologize, but I did the best that I could. This will be the last video that I ever make about this subject.
I used the same method of operation as my last video and start it off with a song that is not from Lynyrd Skynyrd. It is a song from .38 Special called "Rebel to Rebel," which is a beautiful song that Donnie Van Zant wrote about his brother. I also used a clip of one of Steve Gaines beautiful solo songs called "One in the Sun."
The video starts with a news report from a local Jacksonville, Florida station with reporter Tom Wills. Then the first part of the video from 00:15 to 02:30 shows a drive down Highway 568 towards the Hung Yen chicken farm, while driving past Easley Road and PP Wilson. There were bugs flying everywhere, so I had a difficult time keeping my windshield clean. From that point; 02:31 to 08:52 , it shows a beautiful drive around the entire site down Easley Road, then down PP Wilson road in Gillsburg/Osyka, Mississippi.
The crash site footage starts at 08:53 with a shot of the Easley Branch Creek. This is the swampy area where Artimus and another confirmed individual had to cross through that night to run up to the farm to get help. It had apparently rained in that area days before the crash, and there was a lot of water inside that creek. You can see by the creek bank at just how deep it can get at times! It can also be seen again in the video at 11:05
Footage of the memorial "Free Bird Tree" can be seen in the video at 17:34
At 12:34 and 13:26 you can see the last of the remaining fence that the previous chicken farm owner Johnny Mote put up as a memorial of the crash and to Lynyrd Skynyrd. It is almost completely gone.
At 13:20, you can see some orange surveyors tape. There is a lot of that tape in that area; which leads me to suspect that the Asian farm owners or surrounding property owners may soon clear out that land and forever clear away that spot. Very, very sad!
The full crew and passenger list of the Corvair CV-240, Flight N55VM was:
Walter McCreary - Pilot - Killed
William Gray - Co-Pilot - Killed
Ronnie Van Zant - Killed
Steve Gaines - Killed
Cassie Gaines - Killed
Dean Kilpatrick - Assistant Road Manager - Killed
Leon Wilkeson
Gary Rossington
Allen Collins
Billy Powell
Artimus Pyle
Leslie Hawkins
Ron Eckerman - Road Manager
Marc Frank - Road Crew
Gene Odom - Security Manager
James Brace - Road Crew
Mark Howard - Road Crew
Clayton Johnson - Road Crew
Don Kretzschmar - Road Crew
Joe Osborn - Road Crew
Kenneth Peden - Road Crew
Craig Reed - Road Crew
Paul Welch - Road Crew
Steve Lawler - Lighting Tech
Kevin Elson - Sound Engineer
Bill Sykes - Television Film Crewman
Lynyrd Skynyrd 40th Crash Anniversary
Note: Like my previous crash site video, I added music that encompassed the feeling and spirit of visiting a tragically beautiful site like this. However, YouTube just removed all music from this video. Lame!!
Frynds - so it has now been 40 years since the Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash....WOW! Rest in peace Ronnie, Cassie, Steve, and Dean. It's so hard to believe that it has been this long - so very sad. Fly on Free Byrds!
Due to the overwhelming response of my Lynyrd Skynyrd crash site video that I posted back in 2014 (as seen here: youtube.com/watch?v=HKp33zskFn4), it just made sense that I go back for the 40th anniversary of this tragic event and post a new video for all of the Skynyrd fans around the world that are unable to make a trip to this hallowed site.
I didn't have all of the issues this time as I did the last time that I was at the site. I bypassed the Asian owners of the chicken farm altogether, but I was still on edge; as you could hear vehicles, dogs, and other people all around the area. I apologize in advance again for the quality of some of the crash site video. As you can imagine, I was trying to film as much as I could, as quickly as possible. A lot of the video is sideways and I was trying to dodge millions of huge spiders and bugs that are everywhere in the Mississippi woods. I was also listening out to avoid being shot! Also, it has just rained earlier and it was muggy - so my lense kept fogging up which made it difficult to get really good, clear shots. I do apologize, but I did the best that I could. This will be the last video that I ever make about this subject.
I used the same method of operation as my last video and start it off with a song that is not from Lynyrd Skynyrd. It is a song from .38 Special called "Rebel to Rebel," which is a beautiful song that Donnie Van Zant wrote about his brother. I also used a clip of one of Steve Gaines beautiful solo songs called "One in the Sun."
The video starts with a news report from a local Jacksonville, Florida station with reporter Tom Wills. Then the first part of the video from 00:15 to 02:30 shows a drive down Highway 568 towards the Hung Yen chicken farm, while driving past Easley Road and PP Wilson. There were bugs flying everywhere, so I had a difficult time keeping my windshield clean. From that point; 02:31 to 08:52 , it shows a beautiful drive around the entire site down Easley Road, then down PP Wilson road in Gillsburg/Osyka, Mississippi.
The crash site footage starts at 08:53 with a shot of the Easley Branch Creek. This is the swampy area where Artimus and another confirmed individual had to cross through that night to run up to the farm to get help. It had apparently rained in that area days before the crash, and there was a lot of water inside that creek. You can see by the creek bank at just how deep it can get at times! It can also be seen again in the video at 11:05
Footage of the memorial "Free Bird Tree" can be seen in the video at 17:34
At 12:34 and 13:26 you can see the last of the remaining fence that the previous chicken farm owner Johnny Mote put up as a memorial of the crash and to Lynyrd Skynyrd. It is almost completely gone.
At 13:20, you can see some orange surveyors tape. There is a lot of that tape in that area; which leads me to suspect that the Asian farm owners or surrounding property owners may soon clear out that land and forever clear away that spot. Very, very sad!
The full crew and passenger list of the Corvair CV-240, Flight N55VM was:
Walter McCreary - Pilot - Killed
William Gray - Co-Pilot - Killed
Ronnie Van Zant - Killed
Steve Gaines - Killed
Cassie Gaines - Killed
Dean Kilpatrick - Assistant Road Manager - Killed
Leon Wilkeson
Gary Rossington
Allen Collins
Billy Powell
Artimus Pyle
Leslie Hawkins
Ron Eckerman - Road Manager
Marc Frank - Road Crew
Gene Odom - Security Manager
James Brace - Road Crew
Mark Howard - Road Crew
Clayton Johnson - Road Crew
Don Kretzschmar - Road Crew
Joe Osborn - Road Crew
Kenneth Peden - Road Crew
Craig Reed - Road Crew
Paul Welch - Road Crew
Steve Lawler - Lighting Tech
Kevin Elson - Sound Engineer
Bill Sykes - Television Film Crewman
Lynyrd Skynyrd 40th Crash Anniversary
