On this day in 1977, 49 years ago, Lynyrd Skynyrd's plane crashed. On October 20, 1977, Lynyrd Skynyrd was traveling from Greenville to Baton Rouge in a chartered plane, just three days after releasing their album "Street Survivors." Months earlier, Aerosmith had considered purchasing that same Convair 240 for their own tour but rejected it. Neither the aircraft nor the crew met minimum standards, and one of the managers saw the pilots sharing a bottle of whiskey while inspecting it. The band, however, did agree to use it. The 30-year-old plane had already exhibited serious malfunctions on previous flights, including flames coming out of an engine. That night, it ran out of fuel and attempted an emergency landing in a swampy forest in Mississippi. Lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, his sister Cassie, and three other people were killed. The very same plane that Aerosmith had ruled out as too dangerous ended up being fatal for Lynyrd Skynyrd.