Seconds later, a huge explosion rose up from the swamp, throwing up a 30-meter-high wall of fire that seemed to continue for the better part of a mile. The crash, another seminal moment in South Florida aviation history, killed all 110 people on board. It's certainly not a ten. As days pased, flight attendant Stephanie Stanich's body had still not been recovered. Although the flames quickly died down, they managed to pinpoint the location of the crash and rushed to the scene in their airboat, realizing that they had arrived only when their bow bumped up against a dark mass of wreckage. Captain Loft got on the radio and said, Well, ah, tower, this is Eastern 401. Survivors - Crew and Eastern Employees The Lockheed L-1011 was the pride of the Eastern fleet and the first of a new generation of wide-body jumbo jets to crash. The homeowner had a gun, Big, expensive legal loss for Joe Carollo. When I asked each artist to participate in the project, after sharing Flight 401s story and the purpose behind the exhibition, all 12 artists jumped on board even though they knew they would not be compensated for their time and effort.. Injuries ranged from superficial to immediately fatal without any apparent rhyme or reason. The incident occurred on September 11, 1974, killing 72 of the 82 people on board. In reality, the soft surface into which they crashed likely played a larger role in ensuring a high survival rate despite the almost total destruction of the airframe. As rescue teams continued to arrive at the scene, more and more survivors were pulled from the battered wreckage and from the surrounding swamp. Over the following month, two more passengers also succumbed as many of the survivors fought deadly gas gangrene infections caused by bacteria in the swamp water. As it turned out, Eastern Air Lines actively discouraged dependence on automation by banning the use of the autopilot in Control Wheel Steering mode: the system was to remain either in total control or turned off at all times. On the floor was a pair of plastic Eastern Airlines wings. I carry those folks in my heart every single day, Raposa said of those who died in the tragedy. 25th anniversary of the May 11, 1996, ValuJet crash, Aldi to open its first Miami grocery in June. Located just across from the Miami Springs Country Club, survivors and families hope this memorial brings comfort 5 decades later. The jet carried 167 passengers to Miami from New York. Were up to two thousand, said Stockstill. Here are Floridas top 25 stories of all time, Get caught up on the stories youve missed, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. "What saved my life was chute on that dooractually on impact it inflated, she recalled. We can tell if that son of a bitch is down by looking at our indices, said Loft. In some respects the L-1011 surpassed not just every airplane that came before it, but all those which have come after it as well. But today, for Infantino, is about Lilly and the other lost lives. Why? Florida Time archives:Get caught up on the stories youve missed. Eastern Air Lines flight 401 was in fact the first fatal crash of a wide body airliner, and many speculated at the time that so many people survived because the size of the plane shielded them from the impact. The report on the crash of flight 401 was also one of the first times that the NTSB pointed to a lack of proper crew resource management as a contributing factor. "The priest came over and asked me what my religion was," he remembers. It happened 40 years ago today on a cold dark night in the Everglades, a brand new "Whisperliner" jumbo jet crashed in the swamp, killing 101. But just to be sure, the controller called flight 401 and asked, Eastern 401, how are things coming along out there?, Anticipating a confirmation of the gear position at any moment, Loft replied, Okay, wed like to turn around and come, come back in.. People were screaming, and partially clothed dead bodies were face down in the water. Only nine smiling faces appear because one volunteered to take the photo. He would later learn the voice came from flight attendant Beverly Raposa, who would later lead survivors in Christmas carols to try to keep their spirits up in the cold night. The couple had two sons. According to the lore associated with the crash, from the paranormal he conveyed that an L-1011 would never crash and he is floating around to ensure that prophesy.at least until another one did crash. The couple was returning to Miami from their honeymoon when the unspeakable happened. Now, survivors are planning the first memorial marker. It is not the responsibility of any advertiser to ensure that questions are answered. I do business with them, they take sixty days to pay their bills!. When an air traffic controller at MIA noticed they were flying at 900 feet when they should have been at 2000, he contacted the cockpit and asked, "How are things coming along out there?" Were still at two thousand, right? said Stockstill. Then came the final and fatal mistake. He grabbed his high-power frogging flashlight and moved it back and forth like a beacon, catching the pilots attention and undoubtedly hastening the rescue. RSS. Your email address will not be published. During the five hours, a female passenger came up to him and began to walk away. We just saw a big explosion, looks like it was out west. Now push the switches just a forward. The other pilots were not inexperienced, but none could hold a candle to Loft, who had nearly 30,000 flying hours. Eastern Airlines Flight 401 left a mark on the aviation industry and permanent scars for survivors and loved ones of those who died in the crash. "The tail turned over, the floor opened under me and I went down with 400 pounds of debris on me," she said. They were exhausted. One of them was Ron Infantino, an Air Force veteran in Vietnam and aviation aficianado. In addition, Lockheed voluntarily modified the L-1011s landing gear system so that the wheel well lights would turn on automatically when the gear was lowered, and introduced an amber warning light to accompany the chime when leaving a selected altitude. Survivors and relatives of the victims gathered for . Given the lack of training on CWS, combined with pilots trust of the automated systems, it was probably just a matter of time before an L-1011 was involved in accident or near miss due to this quirk. Read more Florida history:Here are Floridas top 25 stories of all time. Visit r/admiralcloudberg to read and discuss over 200 similar articles. The story became so popular that Eastern Air Lines had to tell its employees to stop writing up ghost sightings in the flight logs. I know, a little like a telescope, said Repo. In the last minute of the flight, he observed that the L-1011s radar return displayed an altitude of only 900 feet, but a number of factors prevented him from realizing that a dangerous situation had developed. Why them two?. Uh, Bob, it might be the light, said Stockstill. In fact, the story seems to have originated in a 1973 Flight Safety Foundation article about an engine failure on another Eastern Air Lines plane, which jokingly described the pilot [thinking] he saw the ghost of Don Repo. Someone took this attempt at humor too seriously, and the story spread from there, often being taken as canon, even though no one saw a ghost until after the story was published, nor was there any evidence that equipment from flight 401 was actually salvaged. Eastern employees visited Infantino for a two-hour interview. As he and his new bride entered their sparkling-clean room at a Miami hotel, one they hadnt told anyone theyd chosen, they opened the empty closet. The 12 artists who are participating in the project were selected by artist and project curator George Rodez. Flight log pages detailing incidents were torn out. It would hold them at 2,000 feet while they solved the landing gear problem, and whenever ATC gave them a new heading, they could enter it using the heading select knob and the plane would turn by itself. Controllers gave their OK and told the crew to maintain an altitude of 2,000 feet, as the plane, which had been over the airport turned back over the Everglades. Archives He turned it down. The controller contacted the flight and said, Eastern 401, turn left heading three zero zero. This vector would take the plane out to the west of the airport, over the vast wilderness of the Florida Everglades. At that moment Infantino was resting in his seat. "The autopsy was drowning. "I hear this voice scream out in the Everglades," he said. But a light didnt confirm whether the landing gear was down. Fuller claims Eastern management denied the incidents, and there are no official reports to support them. Updated on: December 29, 2022 / 6:57 PM The 55-year-old Captain Loft was a veteran pilot who had been flying for decades, a true old guard captain who had begun his career in the propeller era. The idea for a memorial for Eastern Flight 401 first popped up at the 35th anniversary gathering in the Everglades. You got a handkerchief or something so I can get a little better grip on this? Stockstill asked. The couple dated for a few years before getting married in December 1972. / CBS Miami. After retiring from NASA after going around the moon on Apollo 8, he went on to become a senior VP at Eastern and flew in a helicopter from the Miami offices to the swamp crash site to help with recovery efforts. The flight had been fully booked, filling the spacious cabin nearly to capacity, but in what would turn out to be a stroke of luck, at least 65 prospective passengers never made it to the airport due to the wintry weather snarling traffic. Surely it was all just a misunderstanding. "Same thing in our lives. Raposa, who worked in a travel agency after leaving Eastern, reminds herself to not leave the house angry and to tell her loved ones how much she cares for them because returning is never a guarantee. Indeed, it would continue to operate in command mode for all other vectors of motion, but for the pitch axis, it would operate as though it was in CWS mode. You got the first one right. Looking back, Ruiz, now 78, who worked at Eastern until the company stopped flying in 1991, sees signs in the events of Dec. 29, 1972. Although various accidents are credited with causing the industry to adopt the principles of Crew Resource Management, Eastern Air Lines flight 401 was the event which prompted scientists and safety experts to start taking cockpit cultural problems seriously in the first place. Those were the last words recovered from the flight voice recorder. She downsized plans for the memorial so it could be completed while the remaining survivors are still alive. Plus-Sized Woman Shames Passengers Who Moved Seats To Have More Room On Flight, American Airlines Passenger Appears To Snort Coke At His Seat While Others Watch, United And Alaska Airlines Aborted Landing In San Francisco To Avoid Hitting Southwest Airlines Jet, After Woman Disrupts 2 A.M. In the hospital he learned just how bad off he was. Community News Releases - December 12, 2022 Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 was on its final approach into Miami shortly before midnight 50 years ago this month when a single light bulb on the. In addition to commemorating Flight 401, the creative talent behind the exhibit is seeking to help survivors raise the funding needed to create a permanent large-scale memorial to Flight 401s victims and survivors in the City of Miami Springs, once home to a thriving Eastern Air Lines community. It was theorized they appeared to warn of impending problems, in an effort to assuage their guilt over their fatal mistake. When Captain Loft accidentally disengaged the autopilots altitude hold function and the plane began to descend, there was little to inform him of the deviation or to warn him of his proximity of the ground, except for the expectation that he would exercise due vigilance in scanning his instruments. 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. Flight Capt. Anyone wishing to donate can write a check payable to the National Air Disaster Foundation or donate online. Go down and see if its lined up with the red line. When Are You Entitled To Meal Vouchers During An American Airlines Flight Delay? It helps me put life in perspective, you see.". Eastern 401, Ive lost you on the radar there, your transponder, he continued. Prosecutors wont say, This Miami neighborhood was shielded from traffic by a court fight that may end soon, Former Broward sheriff Scott Israel resigns as Opa-locka police chief after a year, Miami Beach Commissioner Steven Meiner is running for mayor, adding to crowded field, How much more rain will the Miami area see over the weekend? It is open to the public. asked Loft. You too can submit a story. The rescuers, Coast Guard members and Miami-Dade fire fighters and police officers, worked throughout the night finding survivors. There were 67 survivors. I just regret not getting a chance to say goodbye. I dont see it, he said. Readers:Heres another story in honor of Halloween. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. She was dazed and disoriented but noticed a penlight flashing nearby. Loft pitched up and reached for the throttles, but it was too late. Beneath the cockpit floor was the avionics bay, a cramped room colloquially known as the hellhole, which could be accessed via a hatch in the cockpit floor. Miami, Florida: Bankrupt Eastern Airlines Jets On The Ground. Its gotta come out a little bit and then snap in, Repo suggested. Repo flipped the Christmas tree switch, and all the cockpit lights came on except for the nose gear light. "We don't have a home of our own to call our own, 401 doesn't," he said. The Lockheed L-1011 crashed into the Florida Everglades. She freed herself, then went to work saving others. who states, I selected these particular artists because of their dedication or better said, consecration to their work and discipline. To better understand what took place on board the flight, investigators examined how the pilots had been trained to use the autopilot. Some thirty seconds later, flight 401 arrived at 2,000 feet. There was never anything to it,Jim Ashlock, who ran public relations for Eastern from 1966 until it folded in 1991, told me in 1997. Flashlights also became a standard piece of safety equipment at each jump seat. Could you jiggle tha the light?. "We're still at 2,000 feet, right?" "We did something to the altitude," the first officer remarked, and the captain's reply was "What? First, the unreliability of the new radar system meant that large erroneous changes in altitude could persist for up to three sweeps before self-correcting, so a reading of 900 feet was not by itself indicative of a dangerous situation. Wheel well lights on? he asked. Four hours after the accident, the coastguard and rescuers arrived, their efforts hampered by the difficult location and conditions. The lights of Miami vanished behind them. Ah yes, the Ghost of Repo revisited. Repo was also reported spotted in the avionics bay of another L-1011 ,the same place hed been checking on the landing gear when flight 401 went down. He turned around and said to Repo, Hey, hey, get down there and see if that damn nose wheel is down. She encouraged them to sing Christmas carols to keep their spirits up, a mark of courage and stoicism in the face of a dire situation. Flight attendants Patricia and Stephanie tragically died in the crash, along with the flight crew. The engineer had recognized the stranger. Naked in the cold water, surrounded by tall sawgrass, he heard an airboat. Okay. As Repo opened up the hatch and disappeared into the hellhole, Loft went on the radio and said, Eastern 401, Ill go ah, out west just a little further if we can here and, ah, see if we can get this light to come on here., Alright, we got you headed westbound there now, Eastern 401.. Whats your altitude now? This message too was met with silence. "My grandfather was a kind, humble, perfectionist. . "These poor people were still my responsibility. This type of analysis would be expected today, but was so new in 1972 that it made waves throughout the industry despite occupying little more than a page in the final report. The captain had ordered that the landing gear be lowered in preparation for landing. From a reader:As a 75-year-old born and raised Floridian from a multigenerational Florida family (we are direct descendants of Domingo Acosta who came to Florida in the late 1700s), I would suggest to Mr. Kleinberg that there is a debated theory of the origin of the term Florida Cracker. Growing up, we were very familiar with the term and I can remember wondering where it originated. Eastern Air Lines Flight 401, another Eastern Airlines CFIT . ; City of Miami Springs Mayor, Maria Puente Mitchell, City Manager, William Alonso, and former City of Miami Springs Mayor Bill Bain and former and current City commissioners. Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 departed New York for Miami on December 29, 1972. The homeowner had a gun, Big, expensive legal loss for Carollo... Without any apparent rhyme or reason light, said Stockstill, they take days... 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