<P> Powell, among others, spoke of seeing flames shooting out of the plane's right engine during a flight just days before the crash . The subsequent NTSB report listed "an engine malfunction of undetermined nature" in that same engine as a contributing factor in the crash Pyle told Howard Stern years later in an interview that the fuel gauge in the older - model plane was known to malfunction and the pilots had neglected to manually check the tanks before taking off . In his 2003 book Lynyrd Skynyrd: Remembering the Free Birds of Southern Rock, band roadie Gene Odom, who was on board the plane and survived the crash, comes to the conclusion that pilot Gray was potentially impaired and had been observed using cocaine the previous evening; however, toxicology reports from both pilots' autopsies found no traces of alcohol or other drugs . "Crew inattention to fuel supply" was ultimately determined to be responsible for the crash . </P> <P> After the accident, the NTSB removed, inspected, and tested the right engine's ignition magneto and found it to be operating normally, concluding, "No mechanical or electrical discrepancies were found during the examination of the right magneto ." The inspection also determined that, "All of the fuel cross-feed and fuel dump valves were in the closed position ." </P> <P> The band's record label MCA replaced the album cover of the Street Survivors album as it showed the band surrounded by flames . The location of the crash has turned into a memorial for fans, rescuers and survivors with an oak tree that has been carved with Lynyrd Skynyrd iconography, the site was also the location of a 40th Anniversary memorial by survivors and rescuers . </P> <P> In 2017, surviving members of the band and family of those that died in the crash filed a lawsuit to block production and distribution of a film entitled Street Survivor: The True Story of the Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash . The dispute stemmed from a "blood oath" that was reportedly taken after the crash by survivors to never use the name Lynyrd Skynyrd again in an effort not to capitalize on the tragedy that had befallen the group . </P>

What members of lynyrd skynyrd survived the plane crash