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.
Ronnie Dapo
Dapo began acting in 1959 at the age of seven when he played Billy Lacy in John Bromfield's syndicated series "U.S. Marshal". That same year he appeared as Ronnie in "The Alcoa Hour" in the episode "Another Day, Another Dollar" and in "The Greenhorn Story" of NBC's western series "Wagon Train" starring Ward Bond. He also appeared in the movie -30- as Billy, opposite Jack Webb and Whitney Blake as their soon be adopted son. Then in 1960, he appeared as a schoolboy in the episode "A Bullet for the Teacher" on ABC's "Maverick" starring James Garner, "Ocean's 11" starring Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin