"Put the son of a bitch on autopilot here," Loft said.

One hundred and eighty-five tons of metal, kerosene and humanity was airborne. The aircraft operating the route, a Lockheed L1011-385-1 Tristar crashed into the Florida Everglades, resulting in 101 fatalities. On flight 401, an unexpected factor made it seem even larger than it was. "It's a faulty light," said Stockstill.

The National pilot responded, "Okay, that's maintain ten; you might, uh, be advised we're gonna need an extended pattern now. As Donadeo left the flight deck, he noticed that Stockstill had his right hand on the yoke and was pushing or pulling the light assembly with his left. On this day in 1972, Eastern Airlines Flight 401 crashes in the Everglades. In Row 16, Gustavo and Xiomara Casado were flying to Miami to show relatives their new baby girl.

He began to doze as the seat belt sign was lighted and a voice came from the cockpit. What's your altitude now? He woke up in a puddle near an engine, missing some clothes but generally OK. "The next thing I remember was struggling to breathe. The new L-1011s were constantly being taken out of service for maintenance during that winter, Eastern's busiest season. This photo was taken hours before the crash on December 29th while on board Flight 26 in Miami. Thataboy. Its like the light they needed in the Everglades on that December night 50 years ago. On an internal coms channel the tower controller called down to the approach radar controller, "Eastern 401 heavy's comming back to you, runway heading, two thousand, unsafe nosegear." "Well its difficult, we were only married 20 days, and we were both 26 years old, and she was my first love to be honest with you. It's the holidays. This flight had been booked solid. ", Jerry Eskow, still nursing his double scotch in first class, awakened to "a lot of noise and a lot of vibrations." WebEastern Air Lines Flight 401 was a scheduled flight from New York JFK to Miami.Shortly before midnight on December 29, 1972, the Lockheed L-1011-1 TriStar crashed into the Florida Everglades, causing 101 total fatalities. So when Im stuck in traffic, I say, Ron, What number is this? Amazingly, 75 of the 176 passengers and crew aboard Flight 401 survived. He was still attempting to remove the light. "Id rather sit here anyway," she said. With the emergency equipment rolling onto the field near runway Nine Right in anticipation of National 607, Eastern 401 was assigned the other parallel runway, Nine Left. He would continue to operate the radio and Stockstill would fly the plane. The left wingtip hit first, then the left engine and the left landing gear. On the screen, Flight 401's data block read "CST" - for "coast," which is shown when a beacon target is lost or becomes too weak to correlate for three sweeps of the radar antenna . Again he ordered Repo into the avionics bay below.

Our dedication of the memorial last December 29th serves to prove in a tangible manner that they will never, ever cease to shine within our hearts. Fatal Distraction: Directed by Su Rynard. Immediately behind that plane was Lan-Chile Flight 451, and backed up and waiting to land was National Airlines Flight 437. Her name was Adrianne Hamilton, a slender, serious Texan who nineteen days earlier had begun her fifth year flying with Eastern. But the rest of me was going along with this jolting." That memory never goes away, he told the Miami Herald 50 years later.

Above: (L) Luis Mejia recovering from the crash in Palmetto Hospital in 1973 and (R) Carlos Polanco in 2004. The jumbo jet had been making a late evening flight from New York to Miami. For over thirty years Charlie worked with the FAA as an Air Traffic Controller. Infantino served in Vietnam, but it was this flight, not war that brought him closest to death. WebEastern Air Lines Flight 401 was a scheduled flight from New York JFK to Miami.Shortly before midnight on December 29, 1972, the Lockheed L-1011-1 TriStar crashed into the Florida Everglades, causing 101 total fatalities. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. She was Jennifer Larsen, an in-flight executive representative for Eastern Airlines. The great white fuselage burst into five large pieces and countless fragments. What followed felt like a roller coaster or wild whip ride." The plane descended out of the sky as pilots were distracted over a landing gear warning light. "Okay, going up to two thousand, 128.6," Loft replied. Ea401.png 1,620 1,220; 887 KB Eastern 401 wreckage.jpg 1,000 433; 155 KB Eastern Flight 401 wreckage 1.jpg 280 165; 28 KB Minor, Miami Herald) Below, Right, Mrs Leona Levine on March 15, 1973 (Joe Elbert, Miami Herald). One minute later, National 607, with a light indicating a hydraulic leak, radioed the controller, "You might as well run out the fire trucks." WebEastern Air Lines Flight 401, operated by a four-month-old Lockheed L-1011, registration N310EA, carrying 163 passengers and 13 crewmembers, departed New York-JFK at 21.20h EST for a flight to Miami. "What frequency did he want us on?". She asked fellow flight attendant Patricia Ghyssels, who sat across from her, what was going on. There was a certain irony in Jerry's reviving that thought; always before he had laughed at her concern. While the plane was on the ground at JFK, the tail skid accumulator was serviced and the oxygen bottle replaced. Right: Beverly celebrates her 26th birthday in Mercy Hospital, January 4th 1973, with fellow surviving flight attendants Trudy Smith and Sharon Transue (Photo: Roy Bartley, Miami Herald). The flight crew had taken pictures as a keepsake for what would have been their last trip of the year together. Flight 26 arrived into JFK late and Adrianne and her crew had only twenty-three minutes to get from one plane to the other. After the Tristar crashed into the Everglades, Ruiz said that Raposa, Left me laying down in a safe place, very cold and everything, but she made me as comfortable as possible. There was a splash of water over my face. Hed been sitting next to his wife and infant daughter, but the impact had torn the baby from her mothers arms. ", Loft replied, "118.3, Eastern 401, so long.". With thirty-two years of seniority, he was ranked fiftieth among the airlines four thousand pilots. Eastern 401, Miami ", Then after a few moments of silence and radio static, at 11:43 PM came an ominous message from another aircraft in the area; "Ah, Miami tower this is National 611, we just saw a big explosion, looks like it was out west. As the airplane broke up, the same apparently random pattern of survival and slaughter was repeated, time and time again. "I could see things flying all about methere was a rush of windit sounded like we were in the middle of a tornado. If I had a pair of pliers, I could cushion it with that Kleenex.

Rescue efforts went on for hours, but 75 survivors had been pulled from the wreckage by morning. He heard someone yell, I cant hold my head up anymore! and he rushed to help those trapped under water. It was a window seat on the right side, just forward of the wing. The following is a list of survivors and victims of Eastern Air Lines Flight 401. At the airport, the approach controller looked at the altitude block listed next to the little blip representing Eastern 401 on his radar screen. The monument will be located on the grassy median of the 700 block of Curtis Parkway in Miami Springs, Florida, just opposite the Miami Springs Golf and Country Club driving range. When the airplane first touched the ground, it seemed to Ann Connell that it did so in a normal horizontal landing position. WebLe vol Eastern Air Lines 401 est un vol de la compagnie Eastern Air Lines entre New York et Miami sur Lockheed TriStar, qui, dans la nuit du 29 dcembre 1972, s'est cras dans les Everglades, en Floride.Cet accident, premier accident arien impliquant un avion gros porteur, a caus la mort de 101 des 176 personnes bord (dont 2 dcdes des suites de leurs ", "Yeah," Stockstill said. He entered Collegiate Prep in New Haven, Conn. Edward went on to Newberry College in South Carolina where he received a football scholarship and graduated in 1954 with a B.S. Mercy's camera would later survive the crash and this remarkable photo was developed. I have a beautiful family, and I got my wings back, and I just keep moving forward, said McQuigg. WebCrash (also known as The Crash of Flight 401) is a 1978 made-for-TV drama film directed by Barry Shear and based on the true story of the first crash of a wide-body aircraft, that of Eastern Air Lines Flight 401, a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar which crashed in the Florida Everglades near Miami on the night of December 29, 1972. Operated by a Lockheed L-1011-385-1 TriStar (N310EA), the aircraft crashed into the Florida Everglades on a nighttime approach to Miami International Airport (MIA) on December 29, 1972.

Miguel Junco, being carried into a hospital by an attendant. We're trying to build a memorial out there to try to honor that not only the survivals but the ones who died, ron Infantino and three of the flight attendants who survived the crash spoke to NBC Miami as the 39th anniversary of the flight approached. Two-month-old Christina slept in her mother's arms wearing a pink dress. Ruiz continued her career as a flight attendant, flying for both EA and United (UA) in the years following Flight 401. For me I have kept my promise that I made to them 15 years ago that I would never give up until they were remembered! Ruiz said this began many, many years back with efforts to commemorate the victims from us, the surviving crew members, people close to the victims, and all of the people from our community who really wanted to join us.. But Stockstill was flying the plane, so Repo would be the next to try and remove it. One of Eastern Air Lines inaugural L-1011 routes was flight 401, a regular service from New Yorks John F. Kennedy International Airport to Miami International Airport in Miami, Florida. Shortly before midnight on December 29, 1972, the Lockheed L-1011-1 TriStar crashed into the Florida Everglades,[1][2][3] causing 101 total fatalities. ", The cockpit voice recorder picked up the sound of laughter. WebEastern Air Lines Flight 401 was a scheduled flight from New York JFK to Miami. Lilly's sister, Kathy, would later explain that Ron and Lilly originally selected another flight but later changed it to flight 401. Training and standard operating procedures changed as a result of this, and other crashes, to make problem-solving in a cockpit much more efficient, causing less distraction for the crew. After returning to Connecticut, he then worked for a number of years at Seymour Copper Mill in sales and marketing. The plane was heading away from the city lights.

And the aircraft gradually descended into the mushy swamp from 20,000 feet. WebThe men on Flight 401's flight deck listened to their fellow pilot onboard the National plane as it dealt with its troubled gear. Nearby, flight attendant Beverly Raposa knew that theyd been found, despite the darkness, because shed heard the engines on Marquiss airboat.

But that turned out to be Infantinos uncle, who wasnt on the plane. ""I'll talk to 'em," Loft said. Their participation and support on dedication day was beyond our expectations!!! Despite the enormous quantities and that there was a error counting the passengers, the manifest was meticulously detailed. Both of whom were off duty airline employees who were "dead-heading" - airline slang for employees hitching a free ride to return from a duty assignment. For decades, many of the 75 survivors have reflected on ways to honor those who died in the tragedy. After graduation, he hitchhiked to Oregon and California to visit relatives, returning to Connecticut a couple of years later. "Goddamn it. "Want to tell 'em we'll take it around and circle around and fart around? It was pitch black. The 50th Anniversary of Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 Memorial Monument will be dedicated in a 1300 EST ceremony on December 29, 2022. By using this site, you agree to its use of cookies.

Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Don Schneck was grateful. People were crying. (Photo of the flight crew of Eastern 401; From L to R, Captain Robert Albin Loft, pilot Albert John Stockstill and flight engineer Donald Louis Repo). It was a picture no one was supposed to see, and instead, it has been all over the world, known for being taken right before the disaster.

For one grating moment both horns sounded; then the flap position warning horn became silent. "Yeah.

The crash changed the course of the aviation industry through new safety measures that require pilots to maintain communication with the cabin crew and require flight attendants to carry larger flashlights. Her message on life: Never take anything for granted. Yet, Ed and Sandra were very much alone. Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 was a Lockheed L-1011 Tristar 1 jet that crashed into the Florida Everglades on the night of December 29, 1972, causing 101 fatalities (77 initial crash survivors, two died shortly afterward). She looked up at Mercy and said: 'Oh, Mercy, stop complaining. Laying on the coat rack, Patty George. He had spent the morning working in his yard, which adjoined a golf course in Plantation, Florida. Its the holidays. Despite that this was a pleasure trip -he was going to Miami to see a girlfriend and visit a former college roommate - he sat down and went right to work. "The tests didn't show that the lights worked anyway," Stockstill offered, referring to Repo's test a few moments earlier. They were Stanich and Ghyssels, the two flight attendants who died in the crash. She managed a Manhattan art gallery. The flight would have normally passed east of Jacksonville, Florida, at a point 155 miles out to sea and passing a latitude along which lay, on the other side of the world, Cairo and Shanghai. There wasn't any warning. However, Loft suggested, "Put the power on first, Bert. A low-altitude warning chime went off near Second Officer Don Repos position, but Repo had gone below to see if he could lay eyes on the landing gear. Maintenance had been regular and frequent, with the current flight log noting only minor problems; on Christmas Eve, for example, the first officer's Mach meter was found to read .006 too low and was replaced. In his yard, which adjoined a golf course in Plantation, Florida have their... 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Together the crew started the L-1011s engines. I just regret not getting a chance to say goodbye. Lockheed had delivered it on August 18th, and Eastern put it into service on August 21st. Meanwhile Loft and Stockstill continued to discuss the light fixture. At 7:30pm, Easterns flight dispatcher at JFK cleared the airplane for a nine pm night coach departure to Miami as Flight 401. He returned to Connecticut with his wife and infant son where he gained employment with Winchester Arms Company in New Haven, Conn. His career at Winchester included various fields of the sporting arms industry.

He turned it down. WebEastern Air Lines Flight 401 was a scheduled flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport to Miami International Airport. This particular bulb was supposed to let the pilots know that their landing gear was down. The aircraft operating the route, a Lockheed L1011-385-1 Tristar crashed into the Florida Everglades, resulting in 101 fatalities. According to DeWitt, the monument also represents how through a terrible tragedy in Flight 401, the industry eventually put safety first in many ways.. The controller radioed the plane, "Eastern 401, how are things coming along out there?"
What a special day it was for all!! As frog hunters who witnessed the crash helped rescue survivors, Raposa led those remaining in renditions of Jingle Bells, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman. The last group was rescued at 3:30 a.m. Dec. 30, almost four hours after the crash. "The failure of the flight crew to monitor the flight instruments during the final four minutes of flight, and to detect an unexpected descent soon enough to prevent impact with the ground," according to the report. From Miami to New York, the ten women flight attendants in the crew flew on flight 26, a dinner flight. ", "I can't see it. The bay was accessible through a small square trap door on the floor of the cockpit. With Jonathan Aris, Shawn Lawrence, Shaun Smyth, David Sparrow. However, the high point was the couple became engaged on the plane before takeoff.

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