The band and its entourage went down in a plane crash on October 20, 1977 following their final concert in
Greenville, South Carolina, outside of
Gillsburg, Mississippi, which left members Ronnie Van Zant,
Steve Gaines and
Cassie Gaines dead and the rest suffering severe lacerations, broken bones and various
internal injuries. Wilkeson was seated next to Steve Gaines, and both were thrown face first into a bulkhead at high speed while still strapped in their
airline seats. Wilkeson awoke to find Gaines dead from a broken neck and himself severely injured. At the hospital, he was found to have suffered a closed double fracture of his left leg, a severe double
compound fracture of his left arm, 6 broken ribs (one of which was an internal compound fracture that
punctured and deflated his left lung), upper/lower jaw/nose/facial bones extensively smashed and 15 teeth (basically all of his teeth except the
molars) knocked out. The injury to his left arm was most concerning, as the dirty water of the swamp had already extensively contaminated his open wounds, and the additional surgery he would need to rebuild his face and arm with steel plates would raise his risk of infection even further. His hands had survived intact, but his fretting arm suffered such extensive nerve damage that its
amputation was seriously considered. Subsequently, he was left with a greatly reduced range of motion, which forced him to hold his bass close to his body and at a distinctive near-vertical orientation. Wilkeson returned to playing music professionally three years later, but never recovered his original dexterity on the instrument. == Post-plane crash ==