Status:	Final
Date:	20 OCT 1977
Time:	18:52 CDT
Type:	Convair CV-300
Operator:	L & J Company
Registration:	N55VM
C/n / msn:	3
First flight:	1948
Total airframe hrs:	29013
Engines:	2 Pratt & Whitney R-2800-CB16
Crew:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Passengers:	Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 24
Total:	Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 26
Airplane damage:	Written off
Airplane fate:	Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location:	8 km (5 mls) NE of Gillsburg, MS (United States of America)
Phase:	En route (ENR)
Nature:	Domestic Non Scheduled Passenger
Departure airport:	Greenville Downtown Airport, SC (GMU), United States of America
Destination airport:	Baton Rouge-Ryan Airport, LA (BTR/KBTR), United States of America

Narrative:
While flying the Lynyrd Skynyrd Band from Greenville to Baton Rouge, the crew had to divert to McComb because the aircraft was low on fuel.
Both engines quit before the Convair could reach McComb. A forced landing was made in a wooded area. Band members Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines, and the band's manager Dean Kilpatrick were killed in the accident.

PROBABLE CAUSE: Fuel exhaustion and a total loss of power on both engines due to crew inattention of fuel supply. Contributing to the fuel exhaustion were inadequate flight planning and an engine malfunction of undetermined nature in the right engine which resulted in a higher than normal fuel consumption."

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