Eastern Air Lines Flight 401, crashed on 29 December 1972. "He swore that Frank Borman had paid him to come to Miami and perform an exorcism on #318. I do recall that some gremlins were on it though and they kept messing up my landing!!!!". '", Age 79, died Saturday, October 2, 2004 in Land O'Lakes, FL. That was a miracle that is probably attributable to three factors: (1) the crash site was a soft, wet swamp; (2) there was no significant post-crash fire; and (3) the force of disintegration was directed horizontally and not vertically, flinging many survivors out into the swamp instead of subjecting them to fatal blunt force trauma which is characteristic of most airplane crashes. "When I tried to prop him up it felt like every bone in his body was broken.". Instead of landing in . Anyway, the statute of limitations has long since passed. "He was naked. What was so strange was that it was there in the first place. Riding with him were two Federal Aviation Administration officials. The strange tales of the ghostly airmen of Flight of 401 circulated in the airline community. "Then I saw this great big fireball and the whole 'glades lit up. Flight 401 soared above a primordial swampland filled with poisonous snakes and alligators crawling through razor-sharp sawgrass and open-water sloughs. [5]:4 Fifty seconds after reaching their assigned altitude, Captain Loft instructed First Officer Stockstill to put the L-1011 on autopilot. I should add that Dorothy R. Loft and her two children, Kimberly and Robert, Jr sued Fuller for invasion of privacy over the book . Shock had taken over. Sometimes, back when there were no cell phones or GPS electronics to help navigate, he'd get lost at night. Not long after, "ghosts" of Loft and Repo were seen on more than twenty occasions by crew members on other Eastern Tri-Stars, especially those planes which had been fitted with parts salvaged from the Flight 401 wreckage. It's a swamp, a flat swamp. [27]. The left wingtip banked into the marsh at 227 miles per hour. Less than three hours later the aircraft reached Florida. Diane Carol Greenblatt 5/5/52 Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 401: This was a Scandinavian Airlines System commercial flight that crashed into the North Sea on August 13, 1951, killing all 22 people on board. I was coping with someone who was disabled. The slight forward pressure on the stick would have caused the aircraft to enter a slow descent, maintained by the CWS system. Theyll find us eventually., Raposa had the survivors scoot together, sitting back to back so they could stay warm. I don't recall any large scorched patches of saw grass, but I remember a few small burned areas. Beverly Raposa doesn't mind flying. Everything else was in small pieces spread in a general southwest or south-by-southwest direction for 1,500 to 2,000 feet. I especially remember Bill describing passengers who apparently survived the crash impact, but were knocked unconscious and were still strapped into their seats. Renee Joaquin Albert 8/3/36 [5]:13. The plane was crossing over the Everglades on Dec. 29, 1972 . Henry Nunez 8/18/23 Retired Air Force Col. Frank Bormana former astronaut, vice president of Eastern Airlines and now a first respondercame to escort her into a helicopter hovering at ground level a short distance away. Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 departed New York for Miami on December 29, 1972. I probably did too, I'm sure." In its first three hours aloft, Flight 401 had been uneventful. By the time I got to the clubhouse, there must have been 10 to 15 members milling about, all discussing the crash. She left Eastern and worked in the travel agency industry. Grand Canyon Disaster + . "That wasn't my first brush with death," he said. at 12:30 pm, December 30th) It looked like a piece of the wreckage, or something, had been propelled on a near horizontal trajectory, traveling just a foot or two above the waters surface, and rocketed into the willows with tremendous force., Bent at the waist, the two men waded into the hole, following a ragged debris trail of damaged vegetation. Official Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 - History, Photos, Survivors and Tribute - Investigation Investigation Later that morning the world woke to news of the tragedy. Robert Loft, 55; First Officer Albert Stockstill, 39, and Second Officer Donald Repo, 51, all of Miami-Dade. The jet bounced once, then hit again. I was a kid, 21 years old. The disintegration of the aircraft that followed scattered wreckage over an area 1,600ft (500m) long and 330ft (100m) wide in a southwesterly direction. A glance out a window, after all, would have shown nothing but the black Everglades below. Chapter II - OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (AVIATION PROCEEDINGS) Subchapter A - ECONOMIC REGULATIONS. Repo, Donald Louis | Even at 78, Marquis is an old-fashioned country boy. His right arm was badly hurt. In his mind, he's still a strapping young fellow with big muscles. its related bodies corporate and their respective officers, employees, contractors and agents (Promotion Parties) will not . The flying club tie-down area and ramp were immediately adjacent to the Sun Line operation and I often was called upon to fuel aircraft on the Sun Flying Club property. Please dont leave me! Infantino yelled. Email subscription; Email subscription; . The following conversation was recovered from the flight voice recorder later: Less than 10 seconds after this exchange, the jetliner crashed: The location was west-northwest of Miami, 18.7mi (30.1km) from the end of runway 9L. [4] It was also the first hull loss and fatal crash of a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar. Fara Infantino 12/7/46 As Stockstill started another turn, onto 180, he noticed the discrepancy. I vaguely remember that we ended up taking a total of five people on that flight. In the cockpit, the first of six radio altimeter warnings began, signaling an impending crash. The story of the crash and its aftermath were documented in John G. Fuller's 1976 book The Ghost of Flight 401. Eight minutes earlier, 401 had been descending on its landing approach after an uneventful flight from New York. "I think I can still do it. Ghosts of Flight 401 - 2 | It happened 40 years ago today on a cold dark night in the Everglades, a brand new "Whisperliner" jumbo jet. He felt a sense of mission as he looked out into the black swamp, knowing that his job required cunning and stealth. Inside the planes cockpit, the crew was trying to slide in a replacement bulb, a roughly two-square-inch all-in-one light assembly unit covered by a translucent green plastic lens, valued at $12 altogether. Rowdy fans of Notre Dame and University of Nebraska, scheduled to play on New Year's Day at the Orange Bowl, were poised to take over the town. Were still at 2,000, right? the first officer asked. You could hear the cry of death. Branches had been recently snapped off all the way around the opening, all pointing inward. The middle engine and tail section had broken away from the main fuselage, coming to a rest on their sides in a remote area far from the main crash site, which was located 18.7 miles northwest of Miami International Airport. Two others did not want to be reminded. Eastern Airlines Flight 401 on the tarmac before takeoff on Dec. 29, 1972; Photography by Jon Proctor, I called out to a Coast Guardsman who was working nearby to come and help me out, Leonhard said. Tuesday. He retired from the Metro-Dade police department and moved to Brooksville, Florida many years ago. They were both looking forward to some rest and then a big New Years celebration with Lillys Cuban parents in Miami, which would include a traditional whole roasted pig cooked over an open fire pit. Leonhard pulled his eyes away from the painful scene, lifted his head and slowly swung the stark-white beam of his helmet-mounted lamp across a massive trench carved in the marsh. [15][16] Gossip regarding the sighting of the spirits of Don Repo and Bob Loft spread throughout Eastern Air Lines to the extent that Eastern's management warned employees that they could be dismissed if caught spreading ghost stories. Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 was a Lockheed L-1011-1 Tristar jet that crashed into the Florida Everglades at 11:42 pm December 29, 1972, causing 101 fatalities (99 initial crash fatalities, two died shortly afterward). Michael Ann Kaminer 12/28/45 The unintentional jar apparently caused the planes nose to tilt down a few degrees. Then he tells the story the best he can. Ruiz, 63, of West Miami-Dade, still has aches and pains but returned to flying until Eastern folded in 1991. [26], Flight 401 is mentioned in the TV show Supernatural Season 1 Episode 4 named Phantom Traveler's. Funny how people scream for God at a time like that. On the day of the crash, Flight 401 was operated using a Lockheed L-1011-1 TriStar (registration N310EA), which had been delivered to the airline on August 18, 1972. Blackness. He was left wearing nothing but a necktie and belt pushed up under his armpits. Marquis received burns to his face, arms, and legsa result of spilled jet fuel from the crashed TriStarbut continued shuttling people in and out of the crash site that night and the next day. But we idled back around to double-check on them just in case.. Thomas Ponte 10/24/11 Because of the magnitude of the rescue operation and of the medical emergency caused the study resulted in a . She was killed. Captain Loft had been with the airline for 32 years and had accumulated a total of 29,700 flight hours throughout his flying career. That subsides. He sold 13 in a month. The breakup of the fuselage had freed it from its stowage and activated its inflation mechanism. On December 29, 1972, Flight 401 was en route to Miami International Airport but due to a malfunctioning landing gear light and other distractions, plowed into the swampland, making the incident the second deadliest single aircraft disaster in United States history. The bent, white-haired man in the mirror has a bad heart and breathes from an oxygen machine, hasn't been frogging in a coon's age, and hasn't been in his airboat since, well, he can't remember. Each year on December 29th, I spend a little time thinking about that silhouetted L1011 heading west over Opa locka Airport. [19] Pieces of Flight 401's wreckage can also be found in Ed and Lorraine Warren's Occult Museum in Monroe, Connecticut.[20]. Rosario Messina 2/29/26 She returns with a musty volume that smells like a lion's den. At least he lives near his precious Everglades. In the end, it appears that the source of the stories was an article in an issue of the Flight Safety Foundation. Lights in the Darkness: The crash of Eastern Air Lines flight 401 | by Admiral Cloudberg | Medium 500 Apologies, but something went wrong on our end. Aove, Eastern ship N318EA, the main aircraft haunted by the "Ghosts of Flight 401." The cruel facts of this disaster only reinforced my observation that you won't die unless it's your time to die. Anne Ponte 1/7/16 Leonhard hit the gas as he toggled on the blue light and siren. Ann Connell, Barry Connell, Angelo Donadeo, Patricia R Georgia, Adrianne Ann Hamilton, Jennifer Larsen, Thomas Mulcahy, Mercedes V Ruiz, Beverly Jean Raposa, Trudy J Smith, Sue F. Tibbs, Sharon R Transue, Dorothy M Warnock. 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