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. An elevation of only eight feet felt like being on a hilltop in the Everglades. There was a lot of activity on the ground, but we couldn't see much detail from 3,000 feet. It's time to change that, say survivors and families of the victims, who hope to raise $15,000 for a granite block containing the names of those who died. Less than three hours later the aircraft . I especially remember Bill describing passengers who apparently survived the crash impact, but were knocked unconscious and were still strapped into their seats. Ghosts of Flight 401. It is almost a physical impossibility to find and remove every scrap of wreckage from a swamp. She had nothing. Leonhard pulled his eyes away from the painful scene, lifted his head and slowly swung the stark-white beam of his helmet-mounted lamp across a massive trench carved in the marsh. In fact, she told my mother that she cringed in fear every time she drove down Le Jeune Road (the eastern boundary of Miami International Airport) just because of all the jet noise when planes were landing and taking off. James followed all of the rules and more often than not, brought home venison for the family each deer season. Flight 401 flew into the ground on Friday night, Dec. 29, 1972, at 13 seconds past 11:42 p.m. The cruel facts of this disaster only reinforced my observation that you won't die unless it's your time to die. In fact, do a Google image search for "flight 401 wreckage" and you'll see at a glance that the aircraft was completely destroyed. It was the first accident involving a wide-bodied airliner, and the most deadly crash in the United States at that time. During a rare moment of calm after the rescue helicopter had departed for Miami, he heard the faint tune of a Christmas carol. The temperature is in the low 70s, and its beautiful out there tonight.. Now 41, he lives alone in Titusville, on a disability pension. Now it was her turn. Dead bodies hung, lay and floated everywhere I looked. With the $250,000 legal settlement, Micale thought he had it made. Eastern Airlines Flight 401 crashed into the Everglades on a moonless night on December 29, 1972. Old and sick now, he lives in near poverty on the edge of the Everglades. In it, at a party a few weeks after the emergency landing, someone asked one of the pilots how it had been to land an L-1011 on only one engine. The memories don't. I don't remember the take-off or the landing that day, but I vividly remember the meteorological conditions and the crash site. You could hear the cry of death. Sign up! I was tired and hit the sack as soon as I got home. Please contact us with any corrections or feedback. Elisa Ruth Romero 5/28/44
Thats what youre going to get when we get out of here. According to my late mother, she wanted to get back to flying, but she was petrified every time she heard jet noise. They go deep into the heart of the Florida Everglades to contact the victims' ghosts and find out what really happened that fateful night in 1972. Two tours in Southeast Asia had hardened him. Ghosts of Flight 401 - 5 |
With their very careers on the line, each witness must be totally certain what they saw is what they saw. In every direction, there was nothing but dead silence and incredible darkness. Albert J. Stockstill 6/9/33
Eastern management must have taken the stories somewhat seriously, however. A graveside service will take place on Friday, December 4, at 10:30 AM. Photos of the 35th anniversary memorial gathering at the crash site, December 29, 2007. I mean, I was a single person with no family. His 1977 book, Crash, tells the story of many of the passengers, the investigation and aftermath of Flight 401. What songs will we sing? one passenger asked. "Ladies, you're safe up there. It is now known that "Mrs. McAvoy" was Donna Smith, Thomas McAvoy's traveling companion. at Highland Cemetery in Deport, Texas. Please review this photograph closely. 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 401's victims and survivors in the City of Miami Springs, once home to a thriving Eastern Air Lines community. He invested in real estate, too. He knows exactly how he'd go about it. Forty-five years ago, when Officer Gray Leonhard of the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission began a solo night patrol in the Everglades, he was on the lookout for poachers, drug smugglers and maybe even a bullet-riddled corpse. The other house is gone; his still requires repairs. Tower, this is Eastern 401, it looks like were going to have to circle. The Everglades is flat, covered with tall saw grass and immersed in water that ranges from a few inches deep to three to four feet deep in some areas. Three women on the jetliner's tail, about 20 feet above the water, begged Bud to save them. The plane crashed into the swamp; fortunately, it was a relatively gentle angle into a soft surface, and that's what allowed so many to survive. by Les Hewitt, March 2017 Updated July 2019. Rose Marie Cillis - Mark Paternoster May 15, 2021, 11:07 pm. It was only then that it had hit him. "It survived that night, just like me. That area was off limits to hunters and others for a number of months while federal investigators searched the area for clues to the crash. Klaus Schenck 9/5/39. The single-engine Cessna 152 was . He not only saw the face too, but recognized it as none other than Don Repo, the engineer who died on Flight 401. The original witness so was distressed that several of the cabin crew had to forcibly restrain her. . This witness, a female passenger, described an ashen looking person sitting in one of the seats. The stories began four years later with the publication of John G. Fuller's 1976 book The Ghost of Flight 401, which revealed that those four years had been filled with incidents of flight crew being startled by apparitions of Loft and Repo appearing on board other Eastern Air Lines planes. Theyd been married only 20 days and were returning from their honeymoon. Braulio Corretjer 1/5/28
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. 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. Adapted from Bad Guys, Bullets, and Boat Chases by Bob H. Lee. This killed the First Officer instantly. The tall building behind the plane is Building 16 at MIA, the former headquarters of Eastern Air Lines. "He was naked. In his mind, he's still a strapping young fellow with big muscles. His name showed up recently on a Web site (eastern401.googlepages.com) about the 35th anniversary of a tragedy that killed more than 100 passengers and traumatized dozens more. NTSB Crash Report (Flight 401) |
Another link between the sightings and the aircraft involved could be the corporate decision to use undamaged parts of Flight 401 on other jets in the fleet. Michael Ann Kaminer 12/28/45
At least he lives near his precious Everglades. The other 101 people on Eastern Airlines Flight 401 died quite horribly -- 98 in the Everglades where the airplane crashed, three later in hospitals. At the time, it was one of the worst civil aviation disasters the country had ever seen. After returning to Connecticut, he then worked for a number of years at Seymour Copper Mill in sales and marketing. It seemed to be miles off course. Job Description. Carol Susan Jackter 9/26/52
"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. Ghosts of Flight 401 - 3 |
Barbara Ann Saal
More than a quarter mile long, the cone-shaped debris field was filled with an apocalyptic jumble of human carnage, personal belongings and aircraft wreckage. I'll forever believe that it was Eastern Flight 401, just minutes before it and its passengers and crew became part of aviation history and legend. Not long after the crash, the ghosts of Loft and Repo were seen on more than twenty occasions by crew . Miguel Junco, being carried into a hospital by an attendant. Flight 401crash-landed into the Everglades at over 200 mph. When word of this reached the only engineer on board of that particular flight, he denied ever fixing the oven and went as far to say that it didnt even need fixing in the first place. Richard Childs 5/21/52
His writings form the basis for much of this Web site, with permission. In unison, we looked up to see the silhouette of a Lockheed L1011 flying westbound at an altitude of about 2,000 feet. He isn't a talker to begin with, unless it's about boats or engines or the 'glades. FSF. Sara Escobar 8/ 7/31
It didn't look as if anyone could have possibly survived the crash, yet 75 people did. Loose chunks of lime rock cracked and popped under the tires as he crawled ahead. His wife Nancy - they married when she was 15 - could always tell when it was on his mind, though. Introducing the Keys Quirkiest Resident. . Some survivors recovered and adjusted better than others. The breakdown and subsequent emergency landing did in fact happen, and was covered in a tongue-in-cheek brief in the journal of the Flight Safety Foundation. Wreckage from Eastern Airlines Flight 401 in the Everglades; Photography courtesy Ron Infantino, Buried up to his neck in freezing water and muck, completely naked except for the elastic rims of his socks, severely injured, shivering and in shock, Infantino feebly called into the night: Lilly, where are you? . I should add that Dorothy R. Loft and her two children, Kimberly and Robert, Jr sued Fuller for invasion of privacy over the book . 18 Jan 2023. Now for the big decisions - who gets to ride with us? Below: The Casado family tour the crash site. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. May Albury, Verena Bieri, Carl Bolufe, Rigoberto Bolufe, Sandra Burt, Gustavo Cassado, Mrs Xeimara Casado, Miss Christina Casado, Ann Connell, Barry Connell, Mariel Diegeriez, Gerald W Eskow, Sylvia Fisher, Ms. F. Frankin, Herbert Fresko, Molly Fresko, Alicia Garcia, Julia Garcia, Kathryn F.Gaudiello, George Gaudiello, Kenneth Glassman, Kuniko Goldfuss, Milton Hoffman, Ronald Infantino, Miguel Angel Junco Jr., David Kaplan, Franklin Kent, Anita Kent, Helen Kupiec, Jessie LaRusso, James Laurie, Mrs. Leone Levine, Cornelia Leya, Thomas McAvoy, Joseph Mazur, Rose Mazur, Luis Mejia, Richard N. Micale, Albert J Morris, Janice Minguzzi, Christina Ochoa, Allen Okanawsky, Oneida Pares, Aristides Pares, Martha Pares, Carlos Polanco, Lucino Polanco, Joseph Popson, Richard Pragluski, Goldez Quinico, Evelyn Ragalia, Marie Rego, Glen Remkus*, Francoise Riette, Thomas Rothenberg, Martin Siminerio, Bonnie Silverman, Donna Smith, Millie Soberon, Jerald Solomon, Larry Sumpkins, Marilyn Taylor, Edward Ulrich, Jesse C. Walker, Allen Weiss, Lorenzo Zetlin. They got a warning light on the landing gear. . We also offer excellent benefits and perks, including medical, dental, vision, a 401(k)-retirement plan, holiday pay, paid time off . Source: FAA. The bronze plaques are being donated as well as the granite base. He shut down the engine again to listen. You don't want to be in the water with me.". Also in attendance was Ron Infantino, David Kaplan and the Casado family. "It needs new points and plugs, maybe a new set of rings. Carpet layers need strong backs. Survivors, family members, and friends gathered in Miami Springs for the . Johnson, Charles |
He had promised to show a slight acquaintance, Ray Dickinson, how to gig frogs. Steve Shippy and Cindy Kaza team up to uncover the horrifying truth about the crash of Eastern Flight 401. The sightings apparently stopped once this was all done. The reports were given by experienced and trustworthy pilots and crew. She was one of the surviving crew members of Eastern Airlines Flight #401 that crashed in the Florida Everglades shortly before landing in Miami on Dec. 29, 1972. Possible Curse of Seminole Indians |
He received a $250,000 settlement in a lawsuit, blew it all, got into drug trouble, went back to work and fell off a truck. He wanted me to be the pilot (no objection from me) and he would occupy the co-pilot's seat. One other witness has also come forward with a similar story that adds validity to the others simply because of who he was at the time. With no one flying the plane or noticing its steady descent at flight speed, it flew itself into the ground. Bud's heroics were featured prominently a few days later in the Miami Herald. At first, the VP just assumed that this was the Captain of the flight he was on. "The three of us toast to life on that day every year.". Ronald Jaye March 27, 1940
My direct and indirect contact with Eastern Flight 401 didn't end on December 30, 1972. They had drowned because their seats landed with their heads tilted down into the swamp water. This crux of the story was completely made up out of whole cloth. From L to R, Captain Robert Albin Loft, pilot Albert John Stockstill, and flight engineer Donald Louis Repo. Maria Elena Gonzalez 9/3/51
His hunting escapades on his air boat meant that he was very familiar with the area where Flight 401 crashed in the Everglades. Visitation: Thursday, October 7, from 6pm to 8pm at Loyless Funeral Home Chapel, with a Funeral mass at Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Church on Friday at 10am. In its first three hours aloft, Flight 401 had been uneventful. It is now known that "Mrs. McAvoy" was Donna Smith, Thomas McAvoy's traveling companion. Born in Seymour, Conn. on May 8, 1929, to Julius and Mary Kaslo Ulrich. What was so strange was that it was there in the first place. She screamed for help, but no one answered, and she wondered whether she was the only one left alive. He died in Milford Hospital, Milford CT, in September 1973, though its difficult to know if it was as a result of his crash injuries. On the night of December 29th, 1972, Eastern Airlines Flight 401 took off from New York and headed towards Miami, Florida. Speeding across the 'glades in his airboat, Bud was the first rescuer on the scene. Captain Loft had been with the company for over 32 years; a total of 29,700 flight hours. But the passengers were her peopleher responsibilityand it was still her job to help them. Startled, and now fully awake, he wondered, Whats going on here? A former crew chief on a B-52 in Vietnam, he had a keener sense than most passengers about a plane in trouble. The warden noted nothing of interest. That was the last transmission before the left wing sliced into the Everglades at 225 mph. "It's 100 degrees in the house, honey," Nancy says, joining him on the porch. Like so many such cases, its exploitation of a tragedy for financial gain and publicity was disrespectful to both the victims and the survivors. Trans World Airlines Flight 800 was carrying 230 people, including four cockpit crew members and 14 flight attendants. He did well for a while -- had a big house in the Country Club of Miami and drove a Lincoln. Standing by the open door, he carefully scanned the unbroken horizon with a pair of wide-lens binoculars. Trudy Jean Smith, age 73, of Dallas, Georgia, formerly of Deport, Texas, died November 29, 2020. Loretta E. Bloodgood 10/13/15
The following is a list of survivors and victims of Eastern Air Lines Flight 401. Ruiz, 63, of West Miami-Dade, still has aches and pains but returned to flying until Eastern folded in 1991. The haunted aircraft components that harbored the flight engineer's benevolent ghost entered the hall of fame of 1970s urban legends. Then, on Saturday, December 29, a fleet of over 100 airboats carried survivors, their families and others to the crash site for a special memorial. It was rare for commercial airliners to fly westbound directly overhead Opa locka Airport at such a relatively low altitude. They never met again, never talked again, and never will: Ray died years ago in Arcadia. Ground crew with Eastern Airlines Flight 401 before its fateful flight; Photography courtesy Ron Infantino. Flight 401 - Possible Explanation |
"This is way in the past.". Ghosts of Flight 401 - 7 |
Undeterred, the pilot investigated further and did find a problem that may have caused a serious accident if it went unnoticed. Crash of Eastern Airlines Flight 401. She worked in the executive offices at Easterns Miami base. ", This pilot added, however, that he "flew 318 several times in the late 80s and never saw any unnatural apparitions - some weird looking people, but no ghosts. That doesn't haunt me either . Lockheed L-1011 Inside the Hell Hole |
(none / Historical Museum of Southern Fl . Their marriage spanned 47 years. He saw a man standing, shocked, in knee-deep water. Game warden Gray Leonhard in the 70s; Photography courtesy of Gray Leonhard. the passenger manifest)
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. December 29, 2022, 8:23 PM. The next morning, as was my usual Saturday routine, I drove to the Sun Flying club timing it to arrive at approximately 11am. The other flight crew members were First Officer John Stockhill, a flight engineer, and Donald Luis Repo, an aircraft mechanic, and flight engineer. He was an aviation business student at Miami-Dade Community College then, and used some of his money to start a commuter airline. He and his first wife traveled extensively in their RV throughout the United States and Canada. The Ghost of Flight 401 (TV 1978) - YouTube |
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