Burning jet fuel engulfed the aircraft as it plowed through the swamp. Off I went to check with the FAA Flight Service Station. Other than those observations, I don't recall much more from that flight. By 1 a.m., the rookie warden had launched his airboat. He saw a man standing, shocked, in knee-deep water. (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.) Flight 401 Normal - Faulty Auto Pilot | [5]:23 Investigators believe this was due to the crew being distracted by the nose gear light, and because the flight engineer was not in his seat when it sounded, so would not have been able to hear it. But we knew our job was to rescue the survivors first. One day, late in 1973, I got a phone call from James telling me to come over to his house; he had something for me. I wish I had that kind of money today instead of 20 years ago. An alligator was spotted by a news crew in a helicopter next to the wreckage of a small airplane crash in the Florida Everglades devouring the victim's body.. (AP) PITTSBURGH - A former police officer who retired from the FBI due to post-traumatic stress disorder linked to her role in the aftermath of the . I don't remember the take-off or the landing that day, but I vividly remember the meteorological conditions and the crash site. His hunting escapades on his air boat meant that he was very familiar with the area where Flight 401 crashed in the Everglades. "CRASH" BOOK AND MADE FOR TV MOVIE (1977/ 1978). Judy Ellenberg 2/27/53 Dr. Aftabuddin Chowdhury 1/1/43 Instead, it took 35 years. We dont have a light on our nose gear yet.. Last picture of Paul Walker alive, before getting into the porsche that crashed. 2h 48m. Song - The Ghost of Flight 401 - Lyrics | An Eastern Air Lines Lockheed L-1011 crashed at 2342 eastern standard time, December 29, 1972, 18.7 miles west-northwest of Miami International Airport, Miami Florida. James Yandolino 3/7/52 He is survived by his beloved wife of 53 years, Donna; son, John (Jan) Angelo; daughters, Susan (Bob) Norberg, Patricia (Rick) Shepherd; and nine grandchildren. Later that afternoon or evening, Bill Elliott came back to the clubhouse where we were all waiting for him so he could let us know what he did and saw. [5]:6,16[9] However, the NTSB concluded that the captain's tumor did not contribute to the accident. John G. Fuller, the best-selling author of The Ghost of Flight 401, carried out an investigation into the hauntings with the aid of several cautious airline personnel. Late in the evening of Friday, December 29, 1972, I was at the old Sun Flying Club tie-down area located on the east side of Opa locka Airport in metropolitan Miami, Florida. "It's 100 degrees in the house, honey," Nancy says, joining him on the porch. No flicker from an air boaters headlamp. 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. At 820ft (250m) along the wreckage trail, the outer section of the starboard wing tore off, gouging a 59-foot-long (18m) crater in the soft ground as it did so. The plane was dropping from the sky at a rate of 200 feet each minute. Hansel Meighen died on April 15, 1999, and is buried in Ft. Pierce, Florida. 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. Mary Carfizzi 11/3/19 The flight attendant, Mercy Ruiz, was badly injured, with a broken pelvis and a severe laceration on her forehead. No complete cross-section of the passenger cabin remained, and both the port wing and tailplane were demolished to fragments. Mildred Katz 1/8/34 Those pilots probably didn't even know there was a NOTAM prohibiting flight immediately above the crash site. That's where the helicopters, one after another, landed that night, and where ambulances arrived to load the dead and injured. Though Leonhard was only a rookie, the sight of death was not unfamiliar to him. Solomon Fisher 7/18/11 It was only then that it had hit him. Get Alerts. The slight forward pressure on the stick would have caused the aircraft to enter a slow descent, maintained by the CWS system. "Hey! When Eastern Airlines Flight 401 crashed out of the sky over the Florida Everglades in December 1972 it was without a doubt one of the worst commercial air disasters in American history, with over 100 people losing their lives. The majority of this equipment was fitted into Eastern's L-1011 N318EA while it was being assembled in Palmdale. The most interesting story in The Ghost of Flight 401 revolves around the conflict between the employees and airline management in regards to the ghost sightings. His last prospect, Teresa Trapnell, listened to his pitch, didn't buy, but told her insurance executive husband, Bob, what a swell salesman she had met that day. Discretion was the better part of valor. His writings form the basis for much of this Web site, with permission. Then wham! "[5]:2324, In response to this and other accidents during the 1970s, many airlines started crew resource management training for their pilots. You know what would make Bud Marquis happy? 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. Some of those he saved were there, including flight attendants Mercy Ruiz and Sue Tebbs, as well as Beverly Raposa, the flight attendant who rallied passengers to safety after the crash. He probed it with his flashlight beam. It wouldn't take much.". There were 75 survivors. There were 176 people aboard the state-of-the-art Lockheed L-1011, which was nicknamed the. Nobody, not the pilots nor passengers, knew anything was amiss. Patricia George was on top of the coat closet. The tall building behind the plane is Building 16 at MIA, the former headquarters of Eastern Air Lines. 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. Possible Curse of Seminole Indians | Bud asks his wife to look for his scrapbooks. 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. Nicholas Minguzzi 8/5/68 Flight 401 soared above a primordial swampland filled with poisonous snakes and alligators crawling through razor-sharp sawgrass and open-water sloughs. In my mind, that makes him a real hero.". And before I had time to even let off the throttle or do anything else, I ran over those two people, who I knew were both dead. In 1992, Hurricane Andrew blew the roof of the house across the street through his front windows. Airline employees began spreading stories of apparitions to the point where Eastern management warned employees that they could face dismissal if caught, and any log book entries about such matters would be removed. To those who survived, the scene must have had an eerie end-of-the-earth feel, with wisps of gray mist swirling, a baby wailing, the groans from the injured and the dying. | A mass of interesting testimony was produced as a result. Theyd been married only 20 days and were returning from their honeymoon. Now 41, he lives alone in Titusville, on a disability pension. Barbara Ann Saal The ultimate "yes sir, no sir" man, Bud shuffles reluctantly onto the porch, blinking furiously in the sunlight, wondering what's up. During a rare moment of calm after the rescue helicopter had departed for Miami, he heard the faint tune of a Christmas carol. I diplomatically told James that I couldn't take possession of the large pieces of wreckage. On September 4, 1954, Santiago Airlines Flight 513 departed from Aachen, West Germany, destined for Porto Alegre, Brazil. The wheels were down, locked in position for landing, but the pilot wasn't sure about the forward wheel under the plane's nose. ValuJet 592 went down in May 1996, killing all 110 on board. An hour or so later, a Christmas carol floated through the air, reassuring Infantino he was not alone. 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. (No one had a camera, so I don't have any personal photos.) Elisa Ruth Romero 5/28/44 "Then I saw this great big fireball and the whole 'glades lit up. Then the commuter airline folded. On Dec. 3, Southern Airboat and other organizations also plan to honor Bud and the victims and survivors of Eastern Flight 401 with a service and a barbecue in Miami. 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. NOTE - There is no official death certificates for "Mrs. McAvoy," which appeared in passenger lists released to the press at the time. That was a godsend because I got to meet and befriend many of the club members, most of whom were successful small business owners enjoying the fruits of their labor by owning and operating private aircraft (something that is almost cost prohibitive in today's aviation, regulatory and business environments). Surprisingly, he found that there were large pieces of wreckage still out in the glades. Then an alarm chimed, signaling a 250-foot drop. On a moonless night, in the beam of his head lamp, the frog eyes would glow like rubies. 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. Thomas Ponte 10/24/11 He'd stay calm, look at the stars for direction, think things through, then crank up the airboat engine and find his way back to the Tamiami Trail. Below: The Casado family tour the crash site. Flight 401 was a short-haul flight to Miami. It seemed to help. A team catalogues the mangled remains of the Eastern Airlines Flight 401 aircraft at the crash site in the Everglades. . Theyll find us eventually., Raposa had the survivors scoot together, sitting back to back so they could stay warm. "There are is so much friction, so many arguments. 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. From his vantage point atop the levee, Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission Officer Gray Leonhard, then 24 years old, had a commanding view across the vast darkened marsh. Lucille Cilles 1/30/24 Work toward erecting a permanent memorial for Flight 401 at the Curtiss Mansion in Miami continues under the leadership of survivors Ron Infantino and Beverly Raposa. Flight 401 - Survivors and those who were lost Definition: A listing of those who survived and those who were lost. She returns with a musty volume that smells like a lion's den. He looks at the photo of the primitive camp he built in the cypress trees so many years ago when he was young and strong and could hunt and gig frogs and look at the stars. Miguel Junco 8/28/42 Below Left - In red, stewardess Beverly Raposa at the memorial. Christina (center) was two-months-old at the time of the crash, making her the youngest survivor . Forgotten about him, actually. Front row: Sue Tebbs, Dottie Warnock, Beverly Raposa, Stephanie Stanich. Bill Elliott had a much more eventful night. They were both 26 years old. 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