A Surreal Scene
Nothing could be done to save them at that point, and the plane slammed into the earth. Billy Powell recalls hitting the trees at approximately 90 mph. He also said it felt like “being hit with baseball bats in a steel garbage can with the lid on.” The tail section of the plane broke off, the cockpit buckled underneath, both wings broke off, the fuselage turned sideways, and “everybody was hurled forward,” according to Powell.
Source: nytimes.com
Marc Frank, the groupie, remembers seeing complete and total despair after the crash. The plane completely disintegrated, and all that was left was a trail of debris and people. The crash took the lives of Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines, Dean Kilpatrick, Walter McCreary, and William Gray. The other band members (Collins, Rossington, Wilkeson, Powell, Pyle, and Hawkins), tour manager Ron Eckerman, and other road crew members suffered serious injuries. They also suffered as witnesses to such an accident.