After surviving the 1977 Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash, drummer Artimus Pyle walked through the woods to find help.
When he reached a nearby farmhouse, the homeowner mistook him for an intruder and shot him before realizing he was a crash survivor.
In the early morning of October 20, 1977, the plane carrying Lynyrd Skynyrd ran out of fuel and crashed into a wooded swamp near Gillsburg, Mississippi.
The crashed k*lled lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, his sister and backing vocalist Cassie Gaines, road manager Dean Kilpatrick, and both pilots.
Drummer Artimus Pyle, badly injured with torn chest cartilage, pulled other survivors from the wreckage before stumbling for miles through swamp and forest to find help.
When he finally reached a farmhouse, the young farmer inside, startled by a bloodied stranger emerging from the woods at night, fired a warning shot that grazed Pyle's shoulder before realizing what had actually happened.
Pyle survived, recovered, and continued performing Skynyrd's music for decades afterward. See less
