“It has already been publicly exhibited in an academic setting as genuine”: Footage emerges of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Allen Collins learning to play guitar again after the 1977 plane crash that killed three of his bandmates

Previously unseen footage of Allen Collins playing guitar in the wake of the most tragic moment in Lynyrd Skynyrd’s history has emerged online – and it shows what he had to go through to be able to play again.

In 1977, three members of the band were killed when their plane, which had been boarded after a show at the Greenville Memorial Auditorium in Greenville, South Carolina, crashed on the way to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Three band members – vocalist Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist/vocalist Steve Gaines – were among the seven dead, with backing singer Cassie Gaines, Steve’s older sister, the pilot, the co-pilot, and the band’s road manager also lost their lives. Founding guitarist Collins survived but suffered two broken vertebrae in his neck and severe damage to his left arm. Amputation was strongly suggested, but his father reportedly refused, leading Collins to a mountainous recovery journey.

The footage, unearthed from the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s digital archive, was posted online by vascular surgeon and medical historian Dr Craig A. Miller (it has been pulled from YouTube, but can be viewed elsewhere.) It documents his trauma recovery for educational purposes, but from a guitar player’s perspective, it makes for a fascinating and slightly harrowing watch.

Collins can be seen wearing a neck brace and what appears to be hospital scrubs. A second, slightly gruesome close-up shot shows an orthopedic fixator – a metal frame used to hold bones in place to encourage proper healing – bolted into his left arm as he strums some open chords on his sunburst Fender Stratocaster. It’s not good viewing if you’re squeamish.

The pain in his face is noticeable and incredibly moving, but it also underscores his strength of spirit. He’s even able to muster the twanging opening lines of Sweet Home Alabama.

The crash saw the surviving members disband, with Collins eventually making it to the stage again with the Rossington Collins Band, featuring fellow Skynyrd guitarist Gary Rossington.

As powerful as the footage is, this is 2025, and accusations that the video is AI-generated have been leveled at Dr Miller.

“As far as I know, and only someone present at the filming can confirm it with ‘absolute metaphysical certainty,’ the Collins video is 100% genuine,” he says in a Substack post. “Others with intimate knowledge of the events at the time have confirmed that this film was, in fact, made. It has already been publicly exhibited in an academic setting as genuine.

“The recording of surgical cases for teaching and documentary purposes at teaching hospitals was common in that era, and this appears to be such an example.”