On this day October 20, 1977, a Convair CV-240 passenger aircraft ran out of fuel and crashed in a wooded area near Gillsburg, Mississippi, United States. Chartered by the rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd from L & J Company of Addison, Texas, it was flying from Greenville, South Carolina, to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, crashing near its destination. Lynyrd Skynyrd lead vocalist and founding member Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist and vocalist Steve Gaines, backing vocalist Cassie Gaines (Steve's older sister), as

Final footage taken just hours before the 1977 tragedy shows the band members relaxing and boarding their Convair CV-240 at the Greenville Downtown Airport. This film captures the group in high spirits during their "Street Survivors" tour, completely unaware that a fuel exhaustion issue would lead to a fatal crash in a Mississippi swamp later that afternoon. | History In Pictures