The movie centers on drummer Artimus Pyle's experience as a band member in Lynyrd Skynyrd and the tragically fateful day the plane they rented that crashed in the late evening in the swamps of Gillsburg ,MS on October 20th ,1977 and took the lives of singer Ronnie Van Zant , guitarist Steve Gaines ,his sister back up singer Cassie Gaines , road manager Dean Kilpatrick and the two pilots . This movie focuses on the hours leading up to and the day of the event and the aftermath.