Quick answer: On The Bobby White Podcast, in a story also used in a Viral Podcast Shorts clip, pilot Bobby White says that on October 20, 1977, "an airplane carrying the band Lynyrd Skynyrd crashed in Mississippi. Six people died, including three of the band members and both pilots." "What most people don't know," he says, "is that my father was supposed to be flying that airplane." He describes his father as "chief pilot for the company providing the flight crew," who "had been flying the band on tour" and "left the tour a few days before the incident" to be home with White's pregnant mother. White says he "was due to be born actually on October 20th," "the same day the plane crashed," and, later, "I was born two days before the crash." He still asks whether being born "save[d] my father's life" or "indirectly cause[d] the death of the band," and whether, if his father had been flying, "those six people still be alive" or his father "been one of those six people." "I don't know."
Clip: Viral Podcast Shorts YouTube Short from the full source linked below.
The official YouTube title, from a video uploaded November 7, 2026, is Did I Save My Father's Life? The Lynyrd Skynyrd Tragedy. The official description names his father as Jim White and says White "was born October 18, two days before the accident." In the clip itself he says "my father" and "born two days before the crash." According to the National Transportation Safety Board's Aircraft Accident Report NTSB-AAR-78-6, adopted June 19, 1978, a Convair 240, N55VM, crashed about 1852 CDT on October 20, 1977, five miles northeast of Gillsburg, Mississippi, while transporting the Lynyrd Skynyrd Band. The Board reported that six people were killed — the two crewmembers and four passengers — and that 20 others were injured. A New York Times obituary of keyboardist Billy Powell names among the dead lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, and vocalist Cassie Gaines, along with an assistant road manager and both pilots. This article does not go further into the Board's probable-cause findings or answer White's questions.
He was supposed to be flying that airplane
White opens with the date and the death toll in his own words, then with the part he says most people do not know. "My father was supposed to be flying that airplane." "My father was chief pilot for the company providing the flight crew. And he'd been flying the band on tour." His mother, he says, "was pregnant with me," so "he left the tour a few days before the incident" to be home with her, "as I was due to be born actually on October 20th and that's the same day the plane crashed." He does not, in this clip, name the charter company or the pilots who took the flight.
The call at the hospital
White says "someone from the company called" the hospital "and got to the nurses station in the maternity ward." Nurses "grabbed my father out of the room and asked him to come to the the nurses station to take a phone call," and "that's when he was told about the the whole incident." "Obviously it was pretty devastating. He came back and he was pretty upset about it."
Two questions he says he cannot answer
He has, he says, "always had two questions in my mind. Did being born save my father's life or did it indirectly cause the death of the band of Lynyrd Skynyrd?" Later he puts the same uncertainty another way: "If my father had been flying would those six people still be alive or would my father been one of those six people? I don't know." "I was born two days before the crash, and that's a story I've carried with me my entire life." Those questions are left unanswered here.
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FAQ
Why does Bobby White say his father was not on the 1977 flight?
He says his father had been flying the band on tour as chief pilot for the company providing the flight crew, and "left the tour a few days before the incident" to be home with White's mother, who was pregnant with him.
When does he say he was born, relative to the crash?
He says he "was due to be born actually on October 20th," the day of the crash, and, later, "I was born two days before the crash." The official episode description gives that date as October 18.
How does he say his father learned about the crash?
He says someone from the company reached the maternity-ward nurses' station, nurses took his father out of the room to the phone, and "that's when he was told about the the whole incident."
What does the NTSB report say about the crash, at a basic level?
NTSB-AAR-78-6 places the crash about 1852 CDT on October 20, 1977, five miles northeast of Gillsburg, Mississippi, involving Convair 240 N55VM, and reports that six people were killed: the two crewmembers and four passengers. The New York Times, in its 2009 Billy Powell obituary, names Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, and Cassie Gaines among the dead, along with an assistant road manager and both pilots.