1977: The Skynyrd's Live

== 1977: The Skynyrd's Live== In our universe, members of the band Lynyrd Skynyrd (of Sweet Home Alabama fame) died in a plane crash on October 20, 1977, due to a lack of gas and possible mechanical stress. However, what if things happened differently...

Point of Divergence: the Convair CV-300 that the band flew in was properly fueled before the flight.

Halfway in, the magneto of the right engine caught fire, yet pilots Walter McCreary and William Gray were able to keep the plane in the air long enough to crash-land on an abandoned service road near Summit, Mississippi. No casualities were reported. The band members were transported by car to Baton Rouge, Louisiana (their original destination). Ronnie Van Zant would never fly again.

Aftermath
On August 3, 1978, Lynyrd Skynyrd released their sixth studio album, a satire called Custer's Mustard, mainly written by Allen Collins. It scored a hit with the title track, standing at #2 on the Billboard's Hot 100 charts for five weeks.

On April Fool's Day 1979, the group kickstarted their Custer's Mustard World Tour, finally culminating with a performance in Sapporo, Japan on March 29, 1980, where a Protestant ex-clergyman, Hayato Kawaguchi, fired a SIG P220 pistol at Van Zant four times, missing him due to bad aim. He was later beaten and trampled to death by the crowd.