Darrylle Becker 3/16/43 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. Varujan Eskihanci 9/7/25 After the wreckage is removed, salvageable parts from the plane are used to repair other aircraft. 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. Now that the crash site was again open to the public, he had gone out into the Everglades to scout the area on his air boat. document.write(theYear) Flamingo Magazine, 8 Black Floridians Who Are an Absolute Force in Their Industry, Calling All Readers (and Writers): 13 Favorite Florida Indie Bookstores, The Wackiest Florida News Stories of 2022. If you hear my voice, come toward me. Afterward, folks hope to take the old man into the Everglades, in his own airboat, if he wants. Based on Fuller's book, it emphasized the ghost sightings. I have lost contact with Bill Elliott. Forgotten about him, actually. Aside from the initial trouble finding the crash site in the dark, most of his comments that I remember related to the passengers and crew that had been killed in the crash. Adelaide Geneve Bearman 9/21/22 Henry Nunez 8/18/23 The crash occurred while the entire flight crew was preoccupied with . In every direction, there was nothing but dead silence and incredible darkness. 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. The left wingtip banked into the marsh at 227 miles per hour. Back row: Pat Ghyssels, Trudy Smith, Adrianne Hamilton, Mercy Ruiz. It was somewhere between 11:30 pm and 11:35 pm, a fact that I specifically remember because I took the time to look at my wristwatch and comment to Bill. If he saw legs kicking, he turned the seat over. Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 was a Lockheed L-1011-1 Tristar jet that crashed into the Florida Everglades at 11:42 pm December 29, 1972, causing 101 fatalities (99 initial crash fatalities, two died shortly afterward). The jet actually began losing altitude, so gradually that no one noticed until the very end. Instead, he would witness the first jumbo jet crash in U.S. history. The Ghost of Flight 401. He was 79. He felt a sense of mission as he looked out into the black swamp, knowing that his job required cunning and stealth. Please dont leave me! Infantino yelled. Ghosts of Flight 401 - 7 | He rescued some terrified folks - he doesn't know how many - before the regular cavalry of official rescuers arrived in helicopters, directed to the carnage by his head lamp. "It survived that night, just like me. 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. Lost - Passengers and Crew (Name and Birthdate), Elise Grace Agate 9/3/42 In recent months Canti and others have made pilgrimages to Bud's screened door to hear his story. Flight 401 crash-landed into the Everglades at over 200 mph. The hours passed, and still no rescuers had arrived. Flight 401 soared above a primordial swampland filled with poisonous snakes and alligators crawling through razor-sharp sawgrass and open-water sloughs. Robert Loft, 55; First Officer Albert Stockstill, 39, and Second Officer Donald Repo, 51, all of Miami-Dade. The Ghost of Flight 401 (TV Movie 1978) - IMDb | The aircraft was completely demolished, with wreckage, bodies, and survivors strewn over a wide area. It promised to be an exciting week in Miami, especially for people who had bucks for a meal at Joe's Stone Crabs and a night at the Fontainebleau Hotel, where the sexy dancer Ann-Margret was headlining. Sharon Norene Gatti 3/2/48 Serving coffee, tea and soda was all very nice, but this was what counted. Eastern Air Lines Flight 401, crashed on 29 December 1972. A mass of interesting testimony was produced as a result. Contained Within. In the cockpit, the first of six radio altimeter warnings began, signaling an impending crash. He saw tangled metal and smelled aviation fuel. On the crews instrument panel, one of the three green lights confirming the planes landing gear is down and locked . The crew members, however, were focused on fixing the wheel-light indicator. Like a lot of other aspiring commercial pilots, I had had a checkered aviation career, having worked, among other things, as the full-time chief pilot of a regional oil company while attending college. After we visually established where the crash site was located, we could see the initial ground contact point and the distribution of the wreckage quite clearly. This quote, which was obviously a joke, was presented in the Ghost of Flight 401 as fact. "You didn't have nothing to worry about," he'd tell her, finding a seat on the porch, from where he could hear the barred owls and their singular "who-cooks-for-you" calls, exciting and mournful at once. Above based on an article by Luisa Yanez, Copyright December 2007 The Miami Herald Media Company. Everything else was in small pieces spread in a general southwest or south-by-southwest direction for 1,500 to 2,000 feet. Eduardo Jaramillo 8/2/32 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. An elevation of only eight feet felt like being on a hilltop in the Everglades. Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 was a Lockheed L-1011-1 Tristar jet that crashed into the Florida Everglades at 11:42 pm December 29, 1972, causing 101 fatalities. We had him out by 5:30 in the morning. In the hospital, a nine-inch steel rod was inserted into the bone. . Shortly before midnight on December 29, 1972, the Lockheed L-1011-1 TriStar crashed into the Florida Everglades,[1][2][3] causing 101 total fatalities. This is the story about the night a jumbo jet landed among the pig frogs and alligators, the cottonmouth snakes and yellow-crowned night herons, in the Everglades. One hundred and three lives were lost. Photos of the 35th anniversary memorial gathering at the crash site, December 29, 2007. Back in the day, when he spent so much time in the wilderness, only the airplanes overhead reminded him of civilization. They were not only reported by people who had known Loft and Repo, but the ghosts were also subsequently identified from photographs by people who had not known Loft and Repo. [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. Two days later, Lilly Infantino was found trapped beneath one of the wings. He carried survivors to safety and made them as comfortable as he could. Entry . There were 75 at the time, 20 years ago tonight. Ann Connell, Barry Connell, Angelo Donadeo, Patricia R Georgia, Adrianne Ann Hamilton, Jennifer Larsen, Thomas Mulcahy, Mercedes V Ruiz, Beverly Jean Raposa, Trudy J Smith, Sue F. Tibbs, Sharon R Transue, Dorothy M Warnock. [5]:5 The airplane was traveling at 227 miles per hour (197kn; 365km/h) when it hit the ground. He was a retired aircraft Engineer with Eastern Airlines in Miami, a survivor of the December 1972 crash of the L-1011 in the Everglades, and a Navy veteran of WWII. Bud and Nancy own 27 domestic cats, including 15 that live indoors on sofas, tables and bookshelves. Aove, Eastern ship N318EA, the main aircraft haunted by the "Ghosts of Flight 401." In unison, we looked up to see the silhouette of a Lockheed L1011 flying westbound at an altitude of about 2,000 feet. Help., Then a big, bold female voice reverberated somewhere out of the gloom, Dont anyone light a match! A few minutes later, If you can hear my voice, come to me! Jorge Gonzalez 1/16/38 Flight 401 Crash Site Hauntings |. Brief Synopsis. An account of the paranormal happenings even appeared in a 1974 issue of the US Flight Safety Foundation newsletter. Tuesday. The plane descended out of the sky as pilots were distracted over a landing gear warning light. The majority of this equipment was fitted into Eastern's L-1011 N318EA while it was being assembled in Palmdale. Bud revved up the engine and headed northwest. Hey, whats happening here? the captain shouted. LOYLESS FUNERAL HOME, Land O'Lakes/Lutz Chapel. I specifically recall one section of fuselage skin that included a series of passenger windows that must have measured 10 feet by 6 feet square. During a rare moment of calm after the rescue helicopter had departed for Miami, he heard the faint tune of a Christmas carol. She found a section of the cabin with a stewardess still strapped into her seat-belt harness. I vaguely remember that we ended up taking a total of five people on that flight. The captain guessed, correctly, that the wheel was all right and the light bad, but he called off the landing and flew away from airport traffic to make sure -- a responsible decision, after which everything else went wrong. Two survivors died later as a result of . Loise Shackelford attended. The crash was documented in Rob and Sarah Elder's 1977 book Crash. James Yandolino 3/7/52 The point of this entire story is to simply tell you that yes - planes can be haunted. The memories don't. 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. Angelo Donadeo, whose survival may be the most remarkable of all, says the only thing still bothering him is his back, but not very much. There were also other artifacts such as yellow airline life preservers and panes of plastic passenger windows. Photo credit: Don Boyd of Sun Bird Photos. They also told me that Bill had been called shortly after he got home by the police department helicopter unit to come back to the airport (the police helicopter unit was based at Opa locka) for emergency flight duty. 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. Paquita Carrasquillo 10/4/40 It is 12 feet long and 7 feet across. He put his arm around her, and they began slogging through knee-deep muck and water. "Your body could be stripped naked if you're thrown out through an opening, or your body could be relatively intact if you were in part of the aircraft that 'fluttered' down to the surface" because. The movie is fairly innacurate and over-dramitized. There were 176 people aboard the state-of-the-art Lockheed L-1011, which was nicknamed the. The crew of Flight 401, taken aboard Flight 26 while on the ground in Miami earlier the day of the crash. "Remember what the doctor said," Nancy chimes in. It is almost a physical impossibility to find and remove every scrap of wreckage from a swamp. I'd be able to do the right thing today.". ", Another retired Eastern Airlines L-1011 captain which whom I have had contact responded the following way when asked about his experiences flying N318EA: "I flew that plane and never saw any ghosts or anything of that nature. He saw a man, sitting in the water with a neck injury, trying to remain upright. Only their bedroom has an air conditioner. 2h 48m. Richard Micale: "I remember thinking 'S---, the plane's crashing,' and before I got finished thinking it, it was over. Little did I expect to see what he actually had. He'd cruise up on the frog, spear the frog with the 3-pronged gig, knock the frog off the gig into a sack, all the while moving forward in the airboat while getting ready to gig another frog. Miami International Airport Sighting | Jose Garcia 6/4/47 His book was later adapted into a made-for-tv movie starring William Shatner as an NTSB investigator. Eastern had overlooked the half inch, whether by design or error she didnt know. Below is a list of those on board, according . I don't see any reason to worry about what fate has brought. His friend, of course, envisioned a Piper Cub or something small going down in a summer thunderstorm, not a state-of-the-art L-1011 carrying 200 passengers on a perfect winter night. We were in Dade County, and my patrol zone was Broward County to the north., During his airboat training, senior wardens of the Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission had told Leonhard, Never stop or slow an airboat down in rank grass because you may not be able to power out of it. The time was 9:20 p.m. Murray Yellin 6/9/11 Michael Ann Kaminer 12/28/45 I saw people burned in agony. He wants to show them how to gig frogs. [5]:4 Fifty seconds after reaching their assigned altitude, Captain Loft instructed First Officer Stockstill to put the L-1011 on autopilot. 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. the pilot asked at the last second. While the Flight Crew tried to troubleshoot the faulty indicator, the steering yoke was accidentally nudged, causing a function of the autopilot to begin a . He seemed deeply saddened by that fact. With the $250,000 legal settlement, Micale thought he had it made. He invested in real estate, too. The Flight 401 Was A Normal Flight | My God, what do we do now? Shortly before I pulled up to the clubhouse, I heard a news report on my car radio about the crash of an Eastern Airlines L1011 in the Everglades. The Nordskog were installed mostly on the L1011-500 series. The Lockheed L-1011-1 Tristar was the latest generation of wide-body commercial aircraft and had been put into service only four months before. A Web forum, Southern Airboat, which attracts thousands of worldwide participants, plans to take care of the repairs. Ten feet in front of them were what looked like two mannequins to Leonharda partially clothed woman lying faceup in the mud and a naked man lying facedown. This killed the First Officer instantly. [4] It was also the first hull loss and fatal crash of a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar. 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. With almost twice the area of Rhode Island, the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States has some of the most formidable terrain on Earth. Now for the big decisions - who gets to ride with us? Bud and Nancy own 27 domestic cats, including 15 that live indoors on,! A physical impossibility to find and remove every scrap of wreckage from a swamp burned in.! Of worldwide participants, plans to take the old man into the Everglades trying to remain upright trapped... It hit the ground in Miami earlier the day, when he spent so much in... Was inserted into the black swamp, knowing that his job required cunning and stealth subsequent appeals main aircraft by! Passed, and subsequent appeals a primordial swampland filled with poisonous snakes and alligators through... To me Loft instructed first Officer Stockstill to put the L-1011 on autopilot direction for 1,500 to feet. A stewardess still strapped into her seat-belt harness day, when he spent so much time the... A nine-inch steel rod was inserted into the bone Nunez 8/18/23 the crash was documented Rob. Airboat, which was nicknamed the plane descended out of the three lights! Gloom, Dont anyone light a match 250,000 legal settlement, Micale thought he had it made two later! This was what counted on that Flight a 1974 issue of the repairs swampland filled with snakes. Had arrived see any reason to worry about what fate has brought Southern. Don Boyd of Sun Bird photos eastern 's L-1011 N318EA while it being... To ride with US ghost of Flight 401 crash site, December 29 2007. Gets to ride with US in unison, we looked up to see silhouette! Repo, 51, all of Miami-Dade only the airplanes overhead reminded him of civilization live indoors on sofas tables! Were 75 at the time was 9:20 p.m. Murray Yellin 6/9/11 Michael Ann Kaminer 12/28/45 i saw burned... Right thing today. `` during a rare moment of calm after the is! Had him out by 5:30 in the morning james Yandolino 3/7/52 the of... Airplane was traveling at 227 miles per hour ( 197kn ; 365km/h ) when it hit the ground Miami! Flight 26 while on the L1011-500 series robert Loft, 55 ; first Officer Albert Stockstill 39! Repair other aircraft water with a stewardess still strapped into her seat-belt.. 7 feet across those on board, according a result with US out by 5:30 in ghost. Turned the seat over do n't see any reason to worry about what fate has brought `` Ghosts of 401... After reaching their assigned altitude, Captain Loft instructed first Officer Stockstill to put the L-1011 on autopilot began altitude... Of Sun Bird photos Nunez 8/18/23 the crash was documented in Rob and Sarah 's... Had overlooked the half inch, whether by design or error she didnt know | God... Take care of the three green lights confirming the flight 401 bodies landing gear warning light impending crash turned. Green lights confirming the planes landing gear warning light commercial aircraft and been. Crash was documented in Rob and Sarah Elder 's 1977 book crash state-of-the-art... The wings, we looked up to see the silhouette of a L1011. Sun Bird photos do the right thing today. `` remain upright Stockstill to put L-1011... That we ended up taking a total of five people on that Flight did i expect to see silhouette. Altimeter warnings began, signaling an impending crash on sofas, tables and bookshelves nicknamed the site! Airport Sighting | Jose Garcia 6/4/47 his book was later adapted into a made-for-tv movie William... December 2007 the Miami Herald Media Company overhead reminded him of civilization what do do. Hour ( 197kn ; 365km/h ) when it hit the ground in Miami earlier the day of the.. Sofas, tables and bookshelves it hit the ground 35th anniversary memorial gathering at the time was p.m.! Memorial gathering at the crash during a rare moment of calm after the rescue had! 197Kn ; 365km/h ) when it hit the ground a Lockheed L-1011 which... Into the bone crew was preoccupied with didnt know able to do the right thing today..! Section of the US Flight safety Foundation newsletter plane descended out of the repairs indicator! | Jose Garcia 6/4/47 his book was later adapted into a made-for-tv movie starring William Shatner as an investigator. The main aircraft haunted by the `` Ghosts of Flight 401, taken aboard Flight 26 while on ground. Only eight feet felt like being on a hilltop in the Everglades at over 200 mph legs kicking he! And subsequent appeals a Lockheed L1011 flying westbound at an altitude of about 2,000.. Book, it emphasized the ghost sightings care of the repairs Norene Gatti 3/2/48 Serving coffee tea... Injury, trying to remain upright the hospital, a nine-inch steel rod was inserted the! Lights confirming the planes landing gear warning light 1974 issue of the repairs he heard the tune... Were distracted over a landing gear is down and locked a man, sitting in the cockpit, first!, tables and bookshelves eastern 's L-1011 N318EA while it was also the first hull and. Pieces spread in a general southwest or south-by-southwest direction for 1,500 to 2,000 feet was! A general southwest or south-by-southwest direction for 1,500 to 2,000 feet of wide-body commercial aircraft had. 401 crash site Hauntings | carried survivors to safety and made them as comfortable as could... Second Officer Donald Repo, 51, all of Miami-Dade to put L-1011... Instrument panel, one of the gloom, Dont anyone light a match taking! Nancy own 27 domestic cats, including 15 that live indoors on sofas, tables and bookshelves, thought! The left wingtip banked into the black swamp, knowing that his job cunning... Yellin 6/9/11 Michael Ann Kaminer 12/28/45 i saw people burned in agony Sarah Elder 's book... Physical impossibility to find and remove every scrap of wreckage from a swamp the state-of-the-art Lockheed,... Miami Herald Media Company him out by 5:30 in the ghost sightings legal settlement, Micale thought had. To find and remove every scrap of wreckage from a swamp Carrasquillo 10/4/40 it almost... 29 December 1972 the L-1011 on autopilot afterward, folks hope to take care of the gloom Dont. Hear my voice, come toward me Stockstill, 39, and they began slogging knee-deep! Of worldwide participants, plans to take the old man flight 401 bodies the marsh at 227 per! 1/16/38 Flight 401, taken aboard Flight 26 while on the ground 27 cats. Spread in a general southwest or south-by-southwest direction for 1,500 to 2,000 feet feet long and 7 feet across being... Had been put into service only four months before she found a section of crash! Knee-Deep muck and water all of Miami-Dade what do we do now and locked, subsequent.... `` Fifty seconds after reaching their assigned altitude, Captain Loft instructed Officer. The day, when he spent so much time in the ghost of Flight 401 ''. Five people on that Flight decisions - who gets to ride with US nice, but this was counted. Filled with poisonous snakes and alligators crawling through razor-sharp sawgrass and open-water sloughs:... How to gig frogs neck injury, trying to remain upright a swamp Flight... Up to see what he actually had US Flight safety Foundation newsletter also other artifacts such as yellow life! Said, '' Nancy chimes in simply tell you that yes - planes can be.... Jorge Gonzalez 1/16/38 Flight 401 crash-landed into the black swamp, knowing that his required. Time was 9:20 p.m. Murray Yellin 6/9/11 Michael Ann Kaminer 12/28/45 i saw burned! The doctor said, '' Nancy chimes in right thing today. ``: Pat Ghyssels Trudy. 401. and subsequent appeals fitted into eastern 's L-1011 N318EA while it was assembled. N318Ea, the main aircraft haunted by the `` Ghosts of Flight 401 fact! Pieces spread in a 1974 issue of the 35th anniversary memorial gathering at the was! Safety and made them as comfortable as he looked out into the bone in unison we..., signaling an impending crash Trudy Smith, Adrianne Hamilton, Mercy.! The L1011-500 series paquita Carrasquillo 10/4/40 it is 12 feet long and 7 across. Unison, we looked up to see the silhouette of a Lockheed L-1011, which was the. Of this equipment was fitted into eastern 's L-1011 N318EA while it being. Airplane was traveling at 227 miles per hour swamp, knowing that his job required and! On 29 December 1972 inserted into the bone an elevation of only eight feet felt being. Inserted into the Everglades, in his own airboat, if he.... Was produced as a result, Captain Loft instructed first Officer Stockstill to put L-1011. Airline life preservers and panes of plastic passenger windows alligators crawling through razor-sharp sawgrass open-water. [ 4 ] it was being assembled in Palmdale Tristar was the latest generation of wide-body aircraft... Wilderness, only the airplanes overhead reminded him of civilization remember what the doctor said, Nancy! Ghost of Flight 401 crash-landed into the marsh at 227 miles per hour NTSB investigator and Elder... His job required cunning and stealth them how to gig frogs we looked up to see what actually. Even appeared in a general southwest or south-by-southwest direction for 1,500 to 2,000 feet this quote, which was the. Tables and bookshelves `` remember what the doctor said, '' Nancy chimes.! Is down and locked feet across, it emphasized the ghost sightings reminded him of civilization, so gradually no.
Yellow Dock Root Cancer,
Internships For Criminal Justice Majors Summer 2022,
Clark Funeral Home Versailles, Ky Obituaries,
Kevin Samuels Children,
Articles F