Ronnie Van Zant
On October 20, 1977, a plane carrying the band between shows from Greenville, South Carolina, to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, ran out of fuel outside Gillsburg, Mississippi. The passengers had been informed about potential problems with the Convair CV-240 and were told to brace for a crash. Van Zant died on impact from head injuries suffered after the aircraft struck a tree. Bandmates Steve Gaines and Cassie Gaines, along with assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary, and co-pilot William Gray, were also killed. The rest of the band was seriously injured. Van Zant was 29 years old.
Jimmie Van Zant
He was born in Jacksonville, Florida, the son of E. C. Van Zant who was the cousin of musicians Donnie, Johnny, and Ronnie Van Zant. He took the surname Kelsay from his mother, later adopting his father's name, Van Zant. He began playing guitar and piano as a child, mentored by his cousin Ronnie Van Zant, but largely gave up music until the 1977 plane crash in which Ronnie, the founder and lead singer of Lynyrd Skynyrd, was killed. Jimmie Van Zant then took up a career playing Southern rock music, and performed at festivals and Harley Davidson shows before recording the albums "The Jimmie Van Zant Band" (1996) and "Southern Comfort" (2000). He toured widely with his band, performing over 200 shows each year, and released a third album, "Feels Like Freedom", in 2012.