The Crash Site Was Hauntingly Surreal
Marc Frank remembers seeing complete and total despair. The plane had completely disintegrated. The only thing left was a trail of debris and people. All of the seats were ripped from the frame of the plane, landing in the front section of the crash. Suffocating the people on the bottom from the sheer weight. The cockpit, tail, and wings completely ripped apart and the remaining cab lay desolate, in the shape of an L. The plane was simply not built well enough to even remotely handle the impact from the pine trees at roughly 90 mph. Totaled, decimated, and left for dead. A tragic scene no person would ever wish to see or soon forget.
The pilots were still in their seats, but were laying upside down in nearby trees. One of them being completely decapitated. Ronnie had died instantly upon impact, his head slamming into a tree. Dean Kilpatrick, the band’s manager, lay dead and covered in blood. He had been impaled by a part of the fuselage and it pushed through his body and projected out of his back. Steve Gaines was killed instantly upon impact and his sister Cassie Gaines perished as well. Laying on the ground, still alive for only a moment, to slowly bleed to death.
Powell’s nose had been nearly ripped from his face after crashing head first through a table. Artimus Pyle emerged with several broken ribs, and bleeding everywhere you could. Marc Frank was beaten terribly and was also covered in lacerations and blood. Everyone just stood there helpless. Crying, praying, and counting the dead to see who they would never hug, play music with, and enjoy company with again. All reality had been broken and none of the surviving members would ever be the same – or view life the same again.