One gave him money. Maureen I. Chesler 10/12/47 There were also a bunch of vehicles and some helicopters on a nearby levee that was being used as the base of operations for the rescue and crash investigation. Ruiz, 63, of West Miami-Dade, still has aches and pains but returned to flying until Eastern folded in 1991. Then the commuter airline folded. Thus, the switching to CWS in channel A possibly did not occur in channel B, thus depriving the first officer of any indication the mode had changed (channel A provides the captain's instruments with data, while channel B provides the first officer's). 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. 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. I wouldnt be a bit surprised if the speed hed been traveling was well over a hundred miles an hour., Leonhard added, The guy weighed around 160, but it still took eight of us carrying a stretcher filled with his dead weight to carry him out. You don't want to be in the water with me.". Eugene Schenker 6/24/30 This crash also was the basis for the earlier TV movie. They failed to notice that the autopilot had been disconnected inadvertently and, subsequently, the aircraft gradually lost altitude and crashed. If cities had soundtracks, none would sound quite like Nashville. Three of the four cockpit crew members, two of the 10 flight attendants, and 96 of the 163 passengers were killed; 75 people survived. Although there is no factual evidence to support the claim, legend has it that after the crash investigation, surviving avionics and galley equipment was salvaged from the crash site, returned to the manufacturers and overhauled to help relieve equipment shortages on Lockheed's growing production line. Only small fragments of metal marked the wingtip's first contact, followed 49ft (15m) further on by three massive 115ft (35m) swaths cut through the mud and sawgrass by the aircraft's extended undercarriage before two of the legs were sheared off. Discretion was the better part of valor. ", Official Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 - History, Photos, Survivors and Tribute. He was an aviation business student at Miami-Dade Community College then, and used some of his money to start a commuter airline. [6], The flight was commanded by Captain Robert Albin (Bob) Loft, age 55, a veteran pilot ranked 50th in seniority at Eastern Air Lines. Bud waved the helicopter toward a nearby levee. The crash was documented in Rob and Sarah Elder's 1977 book Crash. He was more than 25 miles away. Today, she still has the small, Eastern Airlines-issued cream-colored suitcase she carried the night of the crash. Kenneth Michael Mazonne 3/27/44 Flight 401 flew into the ground on Friday night, Dec. 29, 1972, at 13 seconds past 11:42 p.m. Richard Childs 5/21/52 In its first three hours aloft, Flight 401 had been uneventful. The temperature is in the low 70s, and its beautiful out there tonight.. Robert Albin Loft 3/17/17 Greta Foye 3/19/45 He carried survivors to safety and made them as comfortable as he could. Robert A. Loft, then 55 years old, with 30 years experience and 29,700 flight hours under his belt, attempted to lower the landing gear. It was broken in the crash and he avoids putting any strain on it -- good advice for anyone his age, 67. Someone had seen his frogging light. The fact that the tail assemblyrear fuselage, number2 tail-mounted engine, and remains of the empennagefinally came to rest substantially further forward than other major sections, was probably the result of the number 2 engine continuing to deliver thrust during the actual breakup of the aircraft. HONOLULU, FEB. 25 -- As investigators questioned the pilots and ground crew today, Coast Guard and Navy rescue workers recovered from the Pacific two seats and a 4-by-6-foot . During a rare moment of calm after the rescue helicopter had departed for Miami, he heard the faint tune of a Christmas carol. I was coping with someone who was disabled. We were like five bobbing bubble-head dolls because there were a lot - and I mean a lot - of other aircraft up in the air doing the same thing we set out to do. If you hear my voice, come toward me. [26], Flight 401 is mentioned in the TV show Supernatural Season 1 Episode 4 named Phantom Traveler's. The three major sections of the fuselagethe most intact of which was the tail assemblylay in the mud towards the end of the wreckage trail. We exited the area and returned to Opa locka Airport, but our conversations were subdued. Email subscription; Email subscription; . What songs will we sing? one passenger asked. We had a habit of informally gathering at the clubhouse on Friday and Saturday evenings to down a few beers and catch up on all the news that had any impact on us. Sadly, she did not survive. An account of the paranormal happenings even appeared in a 1974 issue of the US Flight Safety Foundation newsletter. The experienced flight crew was distracted when the landing gear light failed to come on, which they believed was caused by a blown bulb. Riding with him were two Federal Aviation Administration officials. When the main part of the fuselage hit the ground, it continued to move through the grass and water, breaking up as it went. I saw people burned in agony. Passenger List: TWA Flight 800. Marquis is also survived by a son, Donald Marquis of Altamonte Springs; a daughter, Terri Mabie of Tucson; 10 grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. But the passengers were her peopleher responsibilityand it was still her job to help them. Eastern Airlines Flight 401 was on its way from New York to Miami on December 29th, 1972, with 13 crew and 163 passengers onboard. There was a lot of activity on the ground, but we couldn't see much detail from 3,000 feet. . For his efforts, he received the Humanitarian Award from the National Air Disaster Alliance/Foundation and the "Alumitech Airboat Hero Award", from the American Airboat Search and Rescue Association. But, to play it safe, she always wore an add-on hairpiece and teased her hair up into a bouffant to make herself look taller. On December 29, 1972, Eastern Air Lines flight 401 left New York's JFK airport and crashed on its approach to Miami, killing 101 of the 176 people on board. I really do think I can gig some frogs if I had to. The oven choices for airlines were either Nordskog or the Bowmar/Calrod brand. The scene was impressive. Dale Ann Mazzone 5/19/51 Two tours in Southeast Asia had hardened him. [11] The swamp absorbed much of the energy of the crash, lessening the impact on the aircraft. The trip to Florida, by official accounts, was pleasantly routine. Ghosts of Flight 401 - 3 | I lost my boot., Well, Raposa said, Ill help you find it., Thats okay, Raposa said. The aircraft impacted the Everglades at 227 mph at 25.51'53"N, 80.35'43"W, almost 7 miles due north of Tamiami Trail (US 41), slightly over 7 miles . At 11:42 p.m., the first officer said, We did something to the altitude.. The movie is fairly innacurate and over-dramitized. Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 was a scheduled flight from New York JFK to Miami. 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. Bud wants to. There were 75 at the time, 20 years ago tonight. He survived, barely, with his right arm nearly severed, his left knee broken and his chest crushed. Frank Borman called it all a bunch of "crap" and considered suing the producers of the 1978 made-for-TV movie about the ghost stories for libel. "The three of us toast to life on that day every year.". Rochelle Rubin 1/5/48 (she was the first victim discovered by the search team The crew of Flight 401 taken aboard the jet earlier on the day of the crash: the flight attendants had gathered at the tail of the plane. It seemed to help. Unable to move and weak from severe loss of blood, his body hung suspended in the watery muck, still bent in the sitting position. What made it so hard was trying to manhandle him up and over the broken willows. Ghosts of Flight 401 - 7 | When the Coast Guard helicopter attempted a landing, the prop wash threw hunks of debris dangerously around. He was one of those rare south Florida individuals who owned a ton of hunting rifles and lived for the deer hunting season so he could go out on his air boat and hunt scrawny deer in the Everglades. The plane was dropping from the sky at a rate of 200 feet each minute. Leonhard discovered a hole in the bushes, roughly circular in shape and a little larger than the mouth of a culvert pipe. The pilot Bob Loft and the flight engineer Don Repo were two of the 101 people who perished in the air crash. [5]:23 In this mode, once the pilot releases pressure on the yoke (control column or wheel), the autopilot maintains the pitch attitude of the aircraft until the yoke is again moved. One hundred and one lives were lost that late . He is completely burned. It didn't look as if anyone could have possibly survived the crash, yet 75 people did. He cranked up the engine and moved toward the sound. Bill was a career police officer who had been exposed to death and trauma, but his comments really reflected an attitude of both wonder and sadness. It has a flat bottom and a high seat and a cobweb-draped engine and propeller. The petite brunette stood just 5 feet 1.5 inches tall. In the hospital, a nine-inch steel rod was inserted into the bone. As I recall that December night, it was a relatively cool evening for south Florida with a moonless night sky. At the time, the decision to change seats carried no meaning. Last edited on 22 February 2023, at 02:18, intentional infliction of emotional distress, "Airliner carrying 167 crashes in Everglades", "Giant jetliner goes down in 'gator infested swamp", "Eastern Airlines, Inc. L-1011, N310EA, Miami, Florida, December 29, 1972", "Robert "Bud" Marquis's Obituary on San Francisco Chronicle", "PART TWO: THE CRASH "It felt like a wild rollercoaster ride", "A Lesson on the Importance of Crew Resource Management", "Lessons Learnt from the Crash of Eastern 401", Eastern Flight 401 The Story of the Crash, The Crash of Eastern Air Lines Flight 401-Epilogue, ASN Aircraft accident Lockheed L-1011-385-1 TriStar 1 N310EA Everglades, FL, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eastern_Air_Lines_Flight_401&oldid=1140849286, This page was last edited on 22 February 2023, at 02:18. With the engine dangerously wide open - the boat slipped over the grass at 35 mph - he maneuvered around all obstacles. "Nobody paid him to go out there and try to rescue people," says Ken Pine, who recently fixed Bud's roof. (The largest L1011 operators then at MIA were Eastern Airlines and Delta Airlines, but I don't recall seeing any airline markings when the L1011 was overhead.) The memories don't. "It has always bothered me that there was nothing done with 401," said Dummett, a retired Miami-Dade firefighter and founder of the American Airboat Search and Rescue Association, now living in Lake Wales. Lockheed L-1011 Cockpit | Further evidence that the whole ovens-got-salvaged story is untrue comes from claims that the ovens were made by Foster Refregerator company. Because of the magnitude of the rescue operation and of the medical emergency caused the study resulted in a . The disintegration of the aircraft that followed scattered wreckage over an area 1,600ft (500m) long and 330ft (100m) wide in a southwesterly direction. Forgotten about him, actually. He and his wife, Donna, live in Christmas, a small town between Orlando and Cape Canaveral. Jana Dedek 6/24/53 They claimed that the deceaseds name was being used for the commercial purpose of selling books about the fatal crash (and a movie based on the book) by referring to the decedent as a reappearing ghost. The family lost the suit, and subsequent appeals. What happened next must have happened very quickly. Leonhard doesnt remember which one. [6]:102,108 Stockstill was killed on impact, while Captain Loft died in the wreckage of the flight deck before he could be transported to a hospital. Christina (center) was two-months-old at the time of the crash, making her the youngest survivor . Then he tells the story the best he can. The old airboat, the airboat in which he carried injured passengers, waits on a rusty trailer with flat tires. Wait a minute, he said. Above: A piece of wreckage from Flight 401 still visible in the Everglades. The Flight 401 Was A Normal Flight | His doctor warned him not to travel alone, not with his weak heart and lungs and aching back. The ultimate "yes sir, no sir" man, Bud shuffles reluctantly onto the porch, blinking furiously in the sunlight, wondering what's up. On December 3rd 2007, survivors of Eastern Air Lines flight 401 gathered at the Metro-Dade Firefighters' Memorial Building in Miami to honor Robert "Bud" Marquis, and to remember those who lost their lives in the crash nearly 35 years ago. Folks from South Florida's sporting community, mostly hunters, fishers and airboaters, heard, many for the first time, about Bud. Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 left New York's JFK airport, bound for Miami International Airport, on December 29, 1972. On the clear, moonless night of Dec. 29, 1972, a young rookie game warden sat behind the steering wheel of a light-green 1969 Plymouth four-door sedan with a blue gumball emergency light mounted on the rooftop. Caridad Fermina Hernandez 10/11/32 Fortunately, Bud was an expert. Jose Carrasquillo 6/28/40 You could hear the cry of death. Instead of landing in . The Ghost of Flight 401 (TV 1978) - YouTube | An interesting side show to the crash of Flight 401 was documented in the 1976 book The Ghost of Flight 401, by John G. Fuller. Skeptic Brian Dunning claims that the origin for the ghost sightings was a joke made by an Eastern Air Lines captain after an emergency landing in which he quipped that he "thought [Don] Repo's ghost was on the plane."[22][24]. Nobody, not the pilots nor passengers, knew anything was amiss. [6]:101 The pilots cycled the landing gear, but still failed to get the confirmation light. "Remember what the doctor said," Nancy chimes in. Now take a sip. Alina Junco 5/2/44 In 1972 he was a young carpenter who liked living fast. 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