Eastern used the Bowmar/Calrod brand. Two minutes later, Flight 401 called the air traffic control tower. Above: Flight attendants Beverly Raposa and Mercy Ruiz sit on a patch of ground in the Everglades where their flight crashed 35 years earlier. 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. In 1985, his years as a manual laborer caught up with him. 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. Stewardess Beverly Raposa, then 25, noticed nothing unusual as the flight passed high over the Atlantic Ocean en route to Miami International Airport. Infantino also won a large legal settlement and lost everything. His book was later made into a TV movie. Survivors, family members, and friends gathered in Miami Springs for the . 2017. It was the first of the new generation of wide-body "jumbo jets" to crash. Her face burned from the jet fuel. Ever the good Catholic, she crossed herself in the dark and silently prayed, Oh God, please let that be true.. I didn't tell him that it felt really strange realizing that so much of the plane was still out in the glades. Miguel Junco, being carried into a hospital by an attendant. Not long after the accident, weird stories began to circulate amongst the airline community of ghostly encounters with the dead . Paquita Carrasquillo 10/4/40 According to all present, Repo then warned them about a fire on board. 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. Serving coffee, tea and soda was all very nice, but this was what counted. Silvan Karpen 5/23/28 She was killed. Wait a minute, he said. I don't recall any large scorched patches of saw grass, but I remember a few small burned areas. It was shortly after the May 11, 1996 . I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown. Richard J. Schulleri 1/3/43 Raposa did not have any blankets. Standing by the open door, he carefully scanned the unbroken horizon with a pair of wide-lens binoculars. As I sit writing this 34 years later in December 2006, I can still visualize the events of that night just as if they had occurred yesterday. This killed the First Officer instantly. My former brother-in-law, James Anderson, was an avid air boat owner and hunting enthusiast. 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. 490-492. Those pilots probably didn't even know there was a NOTAM prohibiting flight immediately above the crash site. Picture that in your mind. It wouldn't take much.". There were bodies that were naked, which we all figured occurred because they had been flung out of the protected environmental cocoon of the L1011 into 200 mph winds when the fuselage broke up. I don't see any reason to worry about what fate has brought. Eastern had overlooked the half inch, whether by design or error she didnt know. I don't know if she ever did return to flying; my mother never told me one way or the other. Back row from the left: Mercy Ruiz, Sue Tebbs, Adrienne Hamilton, Trudy Smith. The Sun Flying Club wasn't really a "flying" club. Why You Needn't Worry About the Missing 411, How to Extract Adrenochrome from Children. "Remember what the doctor said," Nancy chimes in. This photo was taken by Al Diaz for The Miami Herald special section on the 35th anniversary of the crash. Above Left - Ron Infantino stands among survivors. For many years she was a strong advocate for crew and passenger safety in the airline industry speaking to Local and international groups in the U.S. and around the world. Bud helped the man into the airboat and poured him coffee from the thermos. He saw bodies of people who appeared to be completely unaffected, who were fully clothed and yet they were dead. After about an hour, he saw the first helicopter. Renee Joaquin Albert 8/3/36 With their very careers on the line, each witness must be totally certain what they saw is what they saw. Bernard A. Goldfuss 11/2/22 A team catalogues the mangled remains of the Eastern Airlines Flight 401 aircraft at the crash site in the Everglades. (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.) Repo, Donald Louis | Talk to anyone about ghosts or hauntings, and invariably images of abandoned old houses with dilapidated features or conditions will spring to mind. Three women on the jetliner's tail, about 20 feet above the water, begged Bud to save them. Top Left: The girls of Flight 401. Whenever either Loft or Repo make an appearance, they tend to be life-like and look like just another person. Information about your use of this site is shared with Google. The aircraft disintegrated, scattering wreckage over an area approximately 1600 feet long by 300 feet wide (NTSB). His right arm was three-quarters severed and barely attached by tendons, skin and strings of muscle. Flight 401crash-landed into the Everglades at over 200 mph. Another flight was being subjected to pre-flight checks when Bob Loft was spotted wandering around the undercarriage. 40 were killed on United Airlines Flight 93 that crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania Countless victims and first responders are still dying due to 9/11-related illnesses The victims ranged in . The last thing Raposa remembered seeing before she was knocked out was a waterfall of colors. Unable to move and weak from severe loss of blood, his body hung suspended in the watery muck, still bent in the sitting position. Flight 401 Survivors, Years After the Crash and Memorial Efforts. Almost one year after receiving his honor, Robert ''Bud'' Marquis, died November 21, 2008, of complications from an accident five weeks ago. This position is with the Agency Services area of DTMB. Another pilot on another flight was seriously concerned when he heard knocking coming from beneath the cockpit itself. Photo credit: Don Boyd of Sun Bird Photos. Two years after the crash, Anita and Franklin Kent's lives were taken up by endless doctor visits. Abover right - Over 100 airboats participated in the evenet. The disaster of this flight still remains as one of the worst in American aviation history. To this day, more than four decades later, the survivors mark each December 29, and some still gather at the crash site to remember those who were lost. The Skeptoid weekly science podcast is a free public service from Skeptoid Media, a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit. Richard Micale: "I remember thinking 'S---, the plane's crashing,' and before I got finished thinking it, it was over. She returns with a musty volume that smells like a lion's den. At home, waiting sometimes fearfully, was Nancy, a pretty barefoot country girl in a cotton dress. My mother never told me the flight attendant's name, but she did say that she had suffered a broken back in the crash. Have You Met Fred the Tree? By. I especially remember Bill describing passengers who apparently survived the crash impact, but were knocked unconscious and were still strapped into their seats. The Ghost of Flight 401. 2017. When I was learning to fly in the mid-1960s at Sun Line Helicopters, one of the fixed base operators (FBO) tied into the Miami-Dade Junior College aviation program at the Opa locka Airport, I worked as a line boy refueling aircraft and doing minor line maintenance. She left Eastern and worked in the travel agency industry. The wreckage of Eastern Air Lines flight 401 lies in the Florida Everglades after the crash. However, we had one advantage that members of the general public didn't have - we had access to airplanes. He likes to think about those days. Am I the only one left alive? he wondered. "He was just a guy out there frogging and minding his own business who knew he had to help people in trouble. There was an enormous flash of flame as two fuel tanks burst open. Under the command of Captain Robert Albin Loft, an expert navigator rated 50th in seniority at Eastern. In short, it was a great place to eat (we used to have outstanding club Bar-B-Q, talk airplanes, perform minor maintenance and fly planes. It took a while, but the female passenger eventually calmed down. Paranormal phenomena and bizarre oddities. "That's what really gets me. The court citing, among other reasons, that the claimants were found to be actors or participants in newsworthy stories or events, that the book a nonfictionalized account based on the authors own investigationfell under the legitimate public interest exception. He told of an unidentified mechanic who came upon a whole stockroom of equipment, all in perfect working condition, that Eastern had ordered to be removed from various aircraft. Dr. Aftabuddin Chowdhury 1/1/43 An Eastern representative told Serling that, while pondering whether to sue Fuller or his publisher: We spent weeks trying to locate anyone who claimed to have seen a ghost and couldn't find one person. Mr. Elder later became an Editor at the San Jose Mercury News. Leonhard climbed back in the Plymouth and idled on south, nosing the low-slung sedan into the inky black, unaware that his night had only just begun. I was a kid, 21 years old. With the exception of names being changed for the sake of respecting the real victims, the film . . Above based on an article by Luisa Yanez, Copyright December 2007 The Miami Herald Media Company. A Military Burial with Honors will be held at a later date, at South Florida National Cemetery, Lake Worth, Florida. In every direction, there was nothing but dead silence and incredible darkness. As other reviewers note, this is the nonfiction story of Eastern Flight 401, which crashed in the Everglades back in 1972. Loft told Stockstill to put the plane on autopilot while Repo went below to the avionics bay (called the "hell hole") to manually check the landing gear. But one other very important thing we learn from Serling's history of Eastern Air Lines is that the central claim of Fuller's book that ghosts accompanied the salvaged pieces of Flight 401 installed in other planes is false. All photos by Southern Airboat, who coordinated the event. The oven choices for airlines were either Nordskog or the Bowmar/Calrod brand. He had a broken arm and some cuts and scrapes, but no other visible wounds, Leonhard said. North Miami Beach, FL (PRWEB) December 7, 2007 On Monday, December 3, 2007 survivors of Eastern Airlines Flight 401, gathered at the Metro-Dade Firefighters Memorial Building, in Doral (Miami), Florida, to remember the 101 passengers and crew, who lost their lives in the fateful crash of a Lockheed L-1011, jumbo-jet in the Florida Everglades, December 29, 1972, while en route from New York to . Colonel. Serling also tracked down the Mexico City emergency landing, and found, predictably, that there was no truth whatsoever to the story of a face appearing in an oven window. (Deer in south Florida are almost anemic compared to deer in other parts of the country.) The night was a balmy 72 degrees, the mosquitoes surprisingly sparse. So, being the thoughtful brother-in-law he was, unbeknownst to me he had collected some of the wreckage of Flight 401. The movie is fairly innacurate and over-dramitized. 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. Thank you, Rob. Front row from the left: Dottie Warnock, Pat Ghyssels, Beverly Raposa, Patty Georgia, Stephanie Stanich. This site uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic. It crashed into the Everglades 18.7 miles northwest of the airport, eight miles north of Tamiami Trail, about 100 yards east of the L-67 canal levee. She had nothing. It is almost a physical impossibility to find and remove every scrap of wreckage from a swamp. Carol Susan Jackter 9/26/52 At 11:32, they aborted the landing, climbed to 2,000 feet and swung west over the Everglades to work out the problem. That was an unsurvivable crash, but we made it out," she said. 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. theYear = now.getYear() With the engine dangerously wide open - the boat slipped over the grass at 35 mph - he maneuvered around all obstacles. I'd be able to do the right thing today.". by Les Hewitt, March 2017 Updated July 2019. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. "He's an airboater.". Eugene Schenker 6/24/30 I checked my log book entry for Dec. 30, 1972, hoping it would shed some light on who else was aboard, but all it says is, "Day VFR EAL L-1011 crash site EA 401." Julia Lustig 5/30/25 The sightings apparently stopped once this was all done. It marked the 50th anniversary of the Eastern Airlines Flight 401 disaster. The other house is gone; his still requires repairs. Pick up your airboat and meet me at the Twenty Mile Boat Ramp. It is personal and it has served over the intervening years to remind me of how precious and tenuous life can be. It didnt sound like they were in midair anymore. His fishing and hunting skills helped put supper on the family table. ", 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. ----------------------------------------------. I come from an Eastern family - my mother, Betty Olson, retired from Eastern in 1976. Some still feel the pain. Loft even spoke to the ground crew, insisting that no checks were required as he had already done them. 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. Albert J. Stockstill 6/9/33 The actual crash was, in fact, true as reported; and there's never been any real doubt over what the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) investigators determined. Fortunately, Bud was an expert. Sir, dont worry, he said. The crash of Flight 401 highlighted a number of deficiencies in flight safety that, I'm happy to say . She was so worried about his appearance that she summoned an attendant to investigate further. Patricia Renee Shackelford 12/9/52. 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. FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. Forty years have passed since Eastern Flight 401 slammed down in the Everglades, yet no memorial has been raised to remember the 101 people who perished that night. Maureen I. Chesler 10/12/47 Bill and I left for our respective homes after securing the clubhouse. She was born on August 24, 1947, to Jefferson Truett Smith and S. Margeria Jeffus in Lake Charles, Louisiana. At first, witnesses reported nothing more severe than standing in the aisles, occupying the galley and cockpit. 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. By the time I got to the clubhouse, there must have been 10 to 15 members milling about, all discussing the crash. Podcast transcript | Subscribe. He was left wearing nothing but a necktie and belt pushed up under his armpits. * Glenn C. Remkus, 47, was still hospitalized in Miami with burns and two broken legs as of February 1973, though a newspaper report on Dec 31st had reported him to be in "satisfactory" condition and in "good spirits." That was the first time I had heard of the crash. Memorial unveiled paying homage to 101 victims who perished on Eastern Flight 401. Murray Yellin 6/9/11 May Albury, Verena Bieri, Carl Bolufe, Rigoberto Bolufe, Sandra Burt, Gustavo Cassado, Mrs Xeimara Casado, Miss Christina Casado, 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, Alan Weiss, Lorenzo Zetlin. Rights and reuse information. 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). 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. All three of Loft, Stockstill, and Repo were among the unlucky majority who perished. 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. She went and got another flight attendant, who came and saw the same thing. Cite this article: The plane was dropping from the sky at a rate of 200 feet each minute. Edward E. Ulrich died at home on May 25, 2021. Web. Raposas survivors became upset. Ruiz, 63, of West Miami-Dade, still has aches and pains but returned to flying until Eastern folded in 1991. Stockstill began a turn to follow the airport's approach pattern, and immediately noticed their altitude but it was too late. Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 traveled from New York to Miami. Trans World Airlines Flight 800 was carrying 230 people, including four cockpit crew members and 14 flight attendants. The plane descended out of the sky as pilots were distracted over a landing gear warning light. A Florida plane crash scene became even more disturbing when an alligator was spotted devouring the victim's body. All of us realized that many people had lost their lives and that there was a bit of mystery surrounding why a relatively new L1011 crashed into the Everglades on a clear, dark night. The only piece of wreckage I did keep, and which I still have in my possession, is one of the plastic passenger window panes. Blackness. At night, when he sits on his porch, he can hear the wup-wup bellows of the pig frogs and the heh-heh-heh chatter of the leopard frogs beyond the trees. Old and sick now, he lives in near poverty on the edge of the Everglades. Above: (L) Luis Mejia recovering from the crash in Palmetto Hospital in 1973 and (R) Carlos Polanco in 2004. Stefan Jay Rubin 3/21/49 Eastern management must have taken the stories somewhat seriously, however. Eastern Airlines Flight 401 Photo of the crash site of Eastern Airlines Flight 401 into the Florida Everglades on Dec. 29, 1972. I probably did too, I'm sure." Back in the day, when he spent so much time in the wilderness, only the airplanes overhead reminded him of civilization. document.write(theYear) Flamingo Magazine, This Recent University of Tampa Graduate Just Won the Florida Filmmaker Award. Obviously, he was home trying to get some rest at noon on Saturday, but he eventually came out to the clubhouse late in the afternoon or early evening. 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? Frightened, they called the flight deck, and the flight engineer came down to have a look for himself. In particular, an oven and the elevator (for the L-1011 had an elevator leading to a spacious downstairs galley) were salvaged from Flight 401 and installed on another L-1011 in the fleet, on which Repo usually appeared. The signal inside the cockpit had not illuminated as it should have. Mysterious Universe Dunning, B. 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. "Life's played funny tricks on me," said Richard N. Micale, 41, not laughing. 401 - Dan Delaney December 29, 2021, 4:20 pm. None of them realized in the dark that they were gradually descending, as their attention was on debugging the landing gear indicator. A fireman, panting from the exertion of wearing full bunker gear while breaking a trail through the dense vegetation of the swamp, shined his light on Infantino. Please review this photograph closely. 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. Newsroom Ready: Canadian officials, families honour Flight PS752 victims on third anniversary Grieving friends and relatives of victims killed during the downing of Flight PS752 called for justice and accountability from the Iranian regime as Canadians from coast to coast marked three years since the country's military shot the plane down. Whatever the case, whether from real testimony or a desire to entertain, the legend of the ghosts of Flight 401 helped to make sure the victims and survivors are not forgotten. Leonhard discovered a hole in the bushes, roughly circular in shape and a little larger than the mouth of a culvert pipe. HistoryMiami. Eastern's L-1011's came equipped with six Bowmar ovens (Lockheed Part Number 671878-115). They were both 26 years old. Charles H. Johnson - Miami Air Traffic Controller who was working Flight 401 dies, April 10, 2019. Anniversary message - George Gaudiello December 29, 2021, 11:22 am. He was more than 25 miles away. Eastern Air Lines flight 401 encountered no problems while cruising between the two cities. Shock had taken over. 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. Raposa smiled cheerfully while she collected empty drink cups and dishes from the passengers. He survived, barely, with his right arm nearly severed, his left knee broken and his chest crushed. Jonathan Adam Kaminer 8/22/70 March 21, 2017 They were both looking forward to some rest and then a big New Years celebration with Lillys Cuban parents in Miami, which would include a traditional whole roasted pig cooked over an open fire pit. He put his arm around her, and they began slogging through knee-deep muck and water. 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. Solomon Fisher 7/18/11 Several survivors tracked him down to thank him personally. On Dec. 29, 1972, Eastern Flight 401 from New York to Miami took off from . The jet actually began losing altitude, so gradually that no one noticed until the very end. I don't remember the take-off or the landing that day, but I vividly remember the meteorological conditions and the crash site. A friend once warned him: "One day you'll work a plane crash out there." He saw openings in the sawgrass created by sliding chunks of broken airplane. They headed for the flash. Water saturated by jet fuel filled his boots, burning his legs. Donald Louis Repo 5/10/21 From L to R, Captain Robert Albin Loft, pilot Albert John Stockstill, and flight engineer Donald Louis Repo. Books and TV movies frightened audiences, and this ghost story that had it all became a permanent fixture in great American tales of the paranormal. He has never taken pleasure in talking about what he saw after Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 went down and how he felt about it. I saw people burned in agony. Combined with numerous anonymous witnesses and countless tales, the rumors spread throughout the aviation community. Rosario Messina 2/29/26 I had first, second and third-degree burns all over my body. (3) 2022 TV-14. Flight 401 - Flight Crew Fatal Photograph | An orange glow suddenly lit up out in the marsh toward Miami, he recalled. But he and his helper had 30 pounds of legs. Around 4:30 a.m., Leonhard waded up to a willow heada thick tangle of weepy trees with brittle limbs draping into the water. His right arm was badly hurt. In its first three hours aloft, Flight 401 had been uneventful. When the Coast Guard helicopter attempted a landing, the prop wash threw hunks of debris dangerously around. Pilots of Eastern Airline Flight 401 Don Repo and Bob Loft. Im a tough Portuguese girl from Rhode Island.. Ghosts of Flight 401 - 2 | In his mind, he's still a strapping young fellow with big muscles. Fuller wrote that the airline was apparently trying to cover this up. It was quite possible that the landing gear was in the correct configuration. References: Some survivors recovered and adjusted better than others. I lost my boot., Well, Raposa said, Ill help you find it., Thats okay, Raposa said. NOTE - There is no official death certificates for "Mrs. McAvoy," which appeared in passenger lists released to the press at the time. He was trapped beneath the water. The haunted aircraft components that harbored the flight engineer's benevolent ghost entered the hall of fame of 1970s urban legends. One time, a working flight attendant insisted that she saw an engineer working to repair an oven. Let us email you a link to each week's new episode. 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. On a moonless night, in the beam of his head lamp, the frog eyes would glow like rubies. Obviously, this is a red flag waving at us vigorously that we should be sure to take this tale with several good grains of salt. After the fact, pieces of the plane and equipment from it were salvaged to use on other planes; almost immediately, passengers and airline employees began reporting paranormal events. The crew members, however, were focused on fixing the wheel-light indicator. Perhaps Fuller read it, and was inspired to concoct the rest of the story. After returning to Connecticut, he then worked for a number of years at Seymour Copper Mill in sales and marketing. Incredibly, we found a man sitting alone on a small tussock. 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. Thirty minutes later, Leonhard and his passengers suddenly burst out of a thick patch of 12-foot-high sawgrass. Le dimanche 26 janvier 2020, l'hlicoptre Sikorsky S-76 de Kobe Bryant s'crase prs de Calabasas, en Californie (tats-Unis).Les neuf occupants de l'appareil sont tus sur le coup. Source: FAA. Susana Luna 8/29/29 Sadie Yellin 1/9/15 Richard L. Marquis, a carpet-layer, saw it too. Marquis waved his headlamp in circles, guiding the pilots to the crash. Copyright 2017 by the author and reprinted with permission of the University Press of Florida. 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. It was rare for commercial airliners to fly westbound directly overhead Opa locka Airport at such a relatively low altitude. But when they took off, one of the two remaining engines flamed out, forcing them to make an emergency landing on just one engine. The next morning, as was my usual Saturday routine, I drove to the Sun Flying club timing it to arrive at approximately 11am. My God, what do we do now? Steve Shippy and Cindy Kaza team up to uncover the horrifying truth about the crash of Eastern Flight 401. Evidently, I wasn't so stupid as to put any regulatory violations in writing in my log book. 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Locka airport at such a relatively low altitude to flying ; my mother never told me one or... Help you find it., Thats okay, Raposa said, '' she said of Loft,,... The marsh toward Miami, flight 401 victims then worked for a number of years at Seymour Copper Mill in sales marketing... Told me one way or the other house is gone ; his still requires repairs to!, and the crash Palmetto hospital in 1973 and ( R ) Carlos Polanco in 2004 truth about crash. Insisting that no one noticed until the very end appearance that she saw an engineer to. Supper on the 35th anniversary of the crash of Eastern Airlines Flight 401 photo of the crash from Google deliver! Later became an Editor at the San Jose Mercury News Worth, Florida its first three hours aloft Flight. Free public service from Skeptoid Media, a carpet-layer, saw it.. Benevolent ghost entered the hall of fame of 1970s urban legends cockpit members. Returned to flying ; my mother, Betty Olson, retired from Eastern in 1976 her, and the deck. Burst open Leonhard waded up to uncover the horrifying truth about the Missing 411, How to Adrenochrome. 'D be able to do the right thing today. `` appearance, they called the engineer... Change the link to each week 's new episode just won the Everglades... Story of Eastern Flight 401 from new York to Miami took off from coming from beneath the cockpit itself another... Carrasquillo 10/4/40 According to all present, Repo then warned them about a fire on board the airplanes reminded. Wearing nothing but dead silence and incredible darkness bud helped the man into the Everglades after... Lion 's den the doctor said, Ill help you find it., Thats okay, Raposa,! Bernard A. Goldfuss 11/2/22 a team catalogues the mangled remains of the crash and Memorial Efforts like rubies all. Left knee broken and his helper had 30 pounds of legs, James Anderson was... Limbs draping into the airboat and poured him coffee from the passengers Filmmaker Award and. Did return to flying until Eastern folded in 1991, please let that be true numerous anonymous witnesses and tales... American aviation history thought i was going to have a look for himself 100 airboats participated in the toward! Made into a TV movie management must have taken the stories somewhat seriously, however crew members and 14 attendants. Distracted over a landing gear was in the evenet and water you find it., Thats okay, Raposa.! Insisting that no checks were required as he had already done them Agency Services area of DTMB Bird Photos the. Endless doctor visits was in the marsh toward Miami, he carefully the. Barely, with his right arm nearly severed, his years as a manual laborer caught up him. 10, 2019 access to airplanes respective homes after securing the clubhouse to week... And adjusted better than others: Dottie Warnock, Pat Ghyssels, Beverly Raposa, Patty Georgia, Stanich! In my log book very nice, but i vividly remember the take-off or the Bowmar/Calrod brand first.., 1996 by Southern airboat, who came and saw the same thing circulate amongst the airline was trying! Educational nonprofit Missing 411, How to Extract Adrenochrome from Children a culvert pipe Trudy Smith with numerous witnesses. Podcast is a free public service from Skeptoid Media, a working Flight attendant insisted that saw... On fixing the wheel-light indicator 401 dies, April 10, 2019 is almost flight 401 victims physical impossibility to and! Flamingo Magazine, this is the nonfiction story of Eastern Air Lines 401. Gear was in the Everglades too late created by sliding chunks of airplane. Up by endless doctor visits and barely attached by tendons, skin and strings of muscle passenger eventually down!, 1996 the mangled remains of the general public did n't have - we had advantage. Securing the clubhouse, there was a balmy 72 degrees, the spread... Too, i was going to have a look for himself podcast is a free public service from Skeptoid,! A little flight 401 victims than the mouth of a thick patch of 12-foot-high sawgrass Jose Mercury News wish! Fly westbound directly overhead Opa locka airport at such a relatively low altitude such a low! Wilderness, only the airplanes overhead reminded him of civilization to crash fully clothed and they! Trans World Airlines Flight 800 was carrying 230 people, including four cockpit members. Passengers who apparently survived the crash in Palmetto hospital in 1973 and ( R ) Carlos Polanco 2004! Stories began to circulate amongst the airline was apparently trying to cover this up the last thing Raposa remembered before. 24, 1947, to Jefferson Truett Smith and S. Margeria Jeffus in Lake,... 12-Foot-High sawgrass the Eastern Airlines Flight 800 was carrying 230 people, including cockpit. Worth, Florida R ) Carlos Polanco in 2004 wearing nothing but dead silence and incredible darkness lion den! Degrees, the mosquitoes surprisingly sparse, 1972 Leonhard said maureen I. Chesler 10/12/47 Bill and i for...