Soon passengers and crew on those aircraft report seeing what they believe to be the ghost of the. Ghosts of flight 401 perhaps the most extraordinary and credible research into the ghost phenomenon ever documented is the socalled ghosts of flight 401. Eastern airlines flight 401 tribute group the heritage of. Eastern air lines flight 401, a lockheed l1011 tristar, was en route from john f. The crash of eastern airlines flight 401 miami herald.
The history of eastern air lines is the story of an airline pioneer. Official eastern air lines flight 401 history, photos, survivors and. On december 29, 1972, the flight departed fromjfk at 2120lwith. Kennedy international airport, new york, to miami international airport, miami, florida, crashed at 2342 eastern standard time in the everglades, approximately 18 miles west northwest of miami international airport. Eastern air lines flight 401 human factors in aviation. Thanks to jim kalafus for the corrected names of flight 401 victims drawn from dade country death certificate files and his continued research and participation in this effort. Carson, 41, who had been employed by eastern air lines for 19 years and who had accumulated 12,607 hours of flight time. On december 29, 1972 an eastern air lines lockheed l1011, as flight 401 on its way from john f. Eastern airlines, eastern airlines flight 401, florida everglades. Of the 163 passengers and crewmembers aboard, 94 passengers and 5 crewmembers received fatal injuries. Fatal distraction eastern air lines flight 401 youtube.
During the 1970s, eastern airlines flights suffered several crashes, one of which became a subject for a hollywood movie. Repo was 51 years old and had been employed by eastern airlines for 25 years, just short of half of his lifetime. Eastern air lines flight 401 was a scheduled flight from new york to miami. When was the eastern airlines crash into the fl everglades. Kennedy international airport in queens, new york, to miami international airport in miami, florida. Trapkowski at the recent miami airliner collectibles show, which was held on saturday 16th january 2010. This page is dedicated to the those who died, those who survived and the countless of. Eastern was an innovator, with an impressive list of accomplishments that set industry standards and changed the way things were done. Eastern airlines flight 401 tribute group the heritage of crm. The company announced in july 2014 that it had placed an order for 20 mitsubishi mrj90s, with rights to an additional 20 of the regional jet.
The story of the crash and its aftermath was documented in john g. Eastern air lines flight 401 miami, florida landmark. Flight 401 the ghost crew of eastern air lines paranorms. On december 29, 1972, the lockheed l10111 tristar operating the flight crashed into the florida everglades, causing 101. Easterns official ride at disneys magic kingdom park was if you had wings.
Much of the content on the website is ed to rob and sarah elder from the book crash 1977, atheneum, new york isbn 0689107587 written by dave yarin. There were 10 flight attendants in the main cabin serving 163 passengers. Eastern airlines flight 401 is a classic case study of aviation human factors that im sure many of you are familiar with but one that deserves revisiting. Beverly raposa a survior of eastern flight 401 29th december 1972 crash of an l1011, tail number n310ea explains her experience. Fullers 1976 book, the ghost of flight 401, eastern employees who reported. Grounding the ghost of flight 401 skeptoid podcast. Ruiz still travels with her eastern airline flight attendant issued samsonite suite case. The ghosts that followed flight 401 ozy a modern media. Ghosts of crew members killed in the 1972 eastern airlines everglades disaster haunt the crews and passengers of other flights. Dummett hopes that the event will inspire a permanent memorial to eastern flight 401, similar to the valujet memorial off the tamiami trail in the everglades. Captain loft had been with the airline for 32 years and had accumulated a total of 29,700 flight hours throughout his. The other flight crew members were first officer john stockhill, a flight engineer, and donald luis repo, an aircraft mechanic, and flight engineer.
Eastern air lines named their fleet of l1011s whisperliners. Instead, he would witness the first jumbo jet crash in u. That is where the eastern airline flight 401 tribute. May 2009 crew resource mangament started with flt 401 and continues for the benefit and safety of the flying public eastern flight 401 crash surviving flight attendant mercedes v. With ernest borgnine, gary lockwood, tina chen, kim basinger. Eastern air lines aircraft 310ea seen here a lockheed l1011 crashed on december 29, 1972, 18. On december of 1972, an eastern airlines tristar jetliner, flight 401, crashed into a florida swamp. Passengers, cabin crew, pilots, flight engineers, even top airline executives, all claimed to have seen something while travelling on some eastern airlines aircraft. The eastern air lines group placed orders for ten boeing 737800s, with the rights to purchase an additional ten 737 max 8 aircraft. But before we begin this spooky tale, we must first go back to december 29, 1972 on board eastern airlines flight 401. This book is about ghostly encounters of the crew from eastern airlines flight 401 that crashed in 1972, in the florida everglades. The pilot, bob loft on the left, and flight engineer don repo on the right, were two of the 101 people who perished in the air crash.
After the fact, pieces of the plane and equipment from it were salvaged to use on other planes. In the 1970s, tales of such ghostly apparitions flew around the usa and the airline world. Eastern air lines flight 401 was a regularly scheduled flight from john f. The engineer and second officer for flight 401 was donald louis repo, a man who had gone to sleep early the night before because he was trying to shake a cold. Eastern airlines flight 401 crashed into the florida everglades on. Eastern airlines flight 401 tribute group posts facebook. On december 29, 1972, eastern air lines flight 401 was the first jumbo jet to crash and the second worst singleplane disaster in america up to that time. This story has relevance to those of us in anaesthesia. Eastern airlines flight 401 was preparing to land in miami, florida in 1972, when the pilots became distracted by a nonfunctioning gear light. Assertions of a coverup by eastern executives finally grew so persistent that the airline was forced to remove all of the recycled 401 parts from its fleet. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. There were 101 people killed in the crash, most were killed immediately but a few died a little later of their injuries.
An eastern air lines lockheed l1011 crashed at 2342 eastern standard time, december 29, 1972, 18. Kennedy international airport jfk, new york, to miami international airport mia, florida, with a crew of and 163 passengers. Pilots of eastern airline flight 401 don repo and bob loft. Lines l1011 aircraft, and john fullers 1976 book the ghost of flight 401 recounts stories of. Then, on saturday, december 29, a fleet of over 100 airboats carried survivors. Eastern air lines flight 401 was a lockheed l10111 tristar jet that crashed into. Soon afterwards, strange things started to happen in the skies. After the wreckage is removed, salvageable parts from the plane are used to repair other aircraft. The book begins with the fateful eastern airlines flight 401 and the series of tiny, by themselves insignificant, details which led to its horrific crash in the everglades. Eastern airlines 1972 flight 401 survivor beverly raposa. Eastern air lines flight 401, operated by a fourmonthold lockheed l1011, registration n310ea, carrying 163 passengers and crewmembers, departed new yorkjfk at 21. On the day of the crash, flight 401 was operated using a lockheed l10111 tristar registration n310ea, which had been delivered to the airline on august 18, 1972. The engineer and second officer for flight 401 was donald louis repo, a man who.
Eastern airlines flight 401 aviation human factors accident. Now, the story behind these innovations, in the words of the people who were behind them, is preserved in a new. It seems incredible, but despite an experienced flight crew and more than six altimeters in the cockpit, eastern airlines flight 401 was allowed to gradually lose altitude until it crashed into the everglades on december 30, 1972. In the dead of night in december, 1972, eastern airlines jumbo jet flight 401 plunged into the. His wife, elizabeth, was an eastern flight attendant that helped him get the goods on the 401 ghost sightings. Valujet 592 went down in may 1996, killing all 110 on board. Eastern air lines flight 401 encountered no problems while cruising between the two cities. With william shatner, adrienne barbeau, brooke bundy, christopher connelly. On 29 th december 1972, eastern airlines flight 401 came crashing out of the sky and into the florida everglades. The eerie mystery of eastern airlines flight 401 on a dark night in 1972, a plane hit the ground, killing 101 people. The first used boeing 737800 was delivered in december 2014.
On the cold winter evening of december 29, 1972, eastern airlines aircraft. While flight 401 was flying over the everglades, the skies were busy with other flights. Avianca 781 took off from miami internationals runway nine left, followed by eastern 470. Bud marquis, the airboater who was first on the scene when eastern airlines flight 401 crashed in the everglades on dec. Robert serlings 1980 book from the captain to the colonel tells the complete history of eastern airlines, from 1935 when it was headed by world war i ace captain eddie rickenbacker, through the late 1980s when apollo astronaut colonel frank borman was at the helm borman, incidentally, was personally onsite at the flight 401 crash, slogging. Miami, fl prweb november 4, 2007 december 29 will mark the 35 anniversary of the eastern airlines flight 401 tragedy. Books and tv movies frightened audiences, and this ghost story that had. Crash of eastern airlines flight 401 fresh gas flow. Lockheed l 1011, n31 oea, operating as flight 4oj eal401, was a scheduled passenger flight from the john f. Captain to the colonel tells the complete history of eastern airlines. The airplane was a new lockheed l1011 tristar, the pride of easterns fleet. Dottie warnock, pat ghyssels, beverly raposa, patty georgia, stephanie stanich. On december 29, 1972, eastern air lines flight 401 crashes into the florida everglades, resulting in 101 fatalities.
The experienced flight crew was distracted when the landing gear light failed to come on, which they believed was caused by a blown bulb. The ghost of flight 401 and millions of other books are available for amazon. Mercy ruiz, sue tebbs, adrienne hamilton, trudy smith. The following is a list of survivors and victims of eastern air lines flight 401.
This tragic 1972 plane crash had a truly haunting aftermath. The douglas dc7 serving flight 663 made its first flight in 1958, and had subsequently accumulated a total of 18,500 hours of flight time. On the cold winter evening of december 29, 1972, eastern airlines aircraft number 310 rested quietly on the dimly lit jet parking area outside new yorks john f. On december 29, 1972 an eastern air lines lockheed l1011, as flight 401 on.
Ground crew with eastern airlines flight 401 before its fateful flight. The eastern airlines flight 401 tribute group had the pleasure of meeting mr. Flight 401 and the ghosts of bob loft and don repo. Eastern airlines history information facts and pictures. An aircraft crashes in the florida everglades, killing 103 passengers. Official eastern air lines flight 401 history, photos. Flight 401, a new l1011 tristar, took off from kennedy international airport in new york at 9. Her book, my search for the ghost of flight 401, was just as good as his and i read both with equal enthusiasm. Captain bob loft and second officer don repo died in the crash, as did ninetynine other people on board in what was one of the worst commercial air disasters in united states history. Eastern air lines flight 401 departed new york for miami on december. There is a harrowing account of the drawnout and difficult rescue. The crash of flight 401, and the lessons for your company. The flight was under the command of captain robert albin loft, a 32yearveteran of eastern air lines. In memoriam of the victims of that event and a tribute to the survivors, family members and rescue personnel, a ceremony will be held monday, december 3, 2.
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