Mississippi has placed signs along a state highway that direct travelers to a memorial commemorating the 1977 plane crash that killed members of the famous rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd.
The Mississippi Department of Transportation placed the new signs at exits on Interstate 55 near McComb and state Highway 568 near Gillsburg, where a monument is dedicated to the popular group known for “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Free Bird.”
Fans gathered on the roadside Sunday to watch the unveiling, the Enterprise-Journal reported.
The plane carrying 26 people went down on Oct. 20, 1977.
Twenty survived, according to The Associated Press.
Those killed were singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, his sister and backing vocalist Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary and co-pilot William Gray.
Three large granite markers were put up in Gillsburg in 2019, but until the exit signs were recently added, many drivers were clueless to find the site in a wooded area near the Louisiana state line.
“People were always asking where the crash site is. It’s very difficult to get to, and there are no markings,” said Bobby McDaniel, president of the Lynyrd Skynyrd Monument Project.
The monument has become one of the biggest tourist attractions in southwest Mississippi, since drawing 4,500 people from 13 countries, 39 states and five Canadian provinces. And that was without directions leading to the remote site 8 miles west of Interstate 55 — in a place with no cellphone service for navigation.
Mississippi legislators passed a bill requiring the state to provide exit signs for the crash monument. Among those pushing for it was Republican Rep. Beckie Currie of Brookhaven, who was a student nurse at the time of the crash. She said local hospital employees worked through the night to help crash victims without knowing some of them were famous.
Currie said she has always been a fan of the band’s music: “I spent a lot of time in the summers ... listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd and having way, way, way too much fun.”
Information provided by The Associated Press was used to supplement this report.
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