I vaguely remember that we ended up taking a total of five people on that flight. The disaster took the lives He said that every time an appearance of the ghosts had been entered into a plane's logbook, the logbook was suddenly replaced with a new blank one. 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. He probed it with his flashlight beam. Roberto Palma 6/10/27 His wife said his ashes would be spread over the crash site in the Everglades that ''he loved so much,'' at a later date. The story goes that parts from it were salvaged and installed in other L-1011s, and almost immediately, the ghost stories began. Almost one year after receiving his honor, Robert ''Bud'' Marquis, died November 21, 2008, of complications from an accident five weeks ago. Sometime in midflight, passenger Ron Infantino switched seats with his wife, Lilly, after she returned from the bathroom. . 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. I dont know this for sure, but I seem to remember he was the last survivor rescued.. 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. Good for me! Marc Leshay 11/28/51 Ron Infantino woke up in a chill, heart pounding, breath erratic. Adelaide Geneve Bearman 9/21/22 Thomas Ponte 10/24/11 This Australian pine rising from the Old Seven Mile Bridge symbolizes the resilience of the Florida Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi give a kaleidoscopic close to their U.S. tour at this historic venueplus, an now = new Date Flight 401s chain of problems began on the approach to Florida two hours after departure. The oven choices for airlines were either Nordskog or the Bowmar/Calrod brand. Flight 401crash-landed into the Everglades at over 200 mph. Feel the warmth going down.. It looked as though the L1011 was in a shallow left turn and dragged the left wing tip in the swamp. "Hey, what's happening here?" Inside was a treasure: Her camera with the unprocessed film of shots of the crew taken that day. The left wingtip hit first. The final leg of the flight was canceled as a result of this fire. "He was naked. Mercy Ruiz, Cindy Kaza, Ron Infantino. Flight Nurse jobs She put in 11 more years with United before retiring. By using this site, you agree to its use of cookies. Ghosts of Flight 401 - 7 | Outside of the aircraft, there wasnt much in the way of visual cues and city lights were non-existent. The harrowing tale of three survivors of the 1972 crash of Eastern Airlines flight 401 into the Everglades. Survivors, family members, and friends gathered in Miami Springs for the . When the Coast Guard helicopter attempted a landing, the prop wash threw hunks of debris dangerously around. All three of Loft, Stockstill, and Repo were among the unlucky majority who perished. The flight attendant, Mercy Ruiz, was badly injured, with a broken pelvis and a severe laceration on her forehead. Flight 401 - Flight Crew Fatal Photograph | "Hey! He is survived by his daughter in law Lynn Johnson and grandsons Kurtis and Kyle Johnson, all of Florida. Maureen I. Chesler 10/12/47 "Grounding the Ghost of Flight 401." If one more time he could harvest a mess of frog legs in the Everglades. Flight 401 Survivors, Years After the Crash and Memorial Efforts. In the end, it appears that the source of the stories was an article in an issue of the Flight Safety Foundation. Worried that something was wrong with the aircraft or one of its systems, the pilot opened up the compartment trap door. . With their very careers on the line, each witness must be totally certain what they saw is what they saw. They have two sons and live in Dade City now, near Tampa. That's where the helicopters, one after another, landed that night, and where ambulances arrived to load the dead and injured. Little did I expect to see what he actually had. Why You Needn't Worry About the Missing 411, How to Extract Adrenochrome from Children. Bernard A. Goldfuss 11/2/22 Evelyn De Salazar 11/6/08 Jonathan Adam Kaminer 8/22/70 He lost interest in his job and just wanted to be alone. Sadly, she did not survive. The control tower at Opa locka shut down at 11pm each evening back then so the L1011 had to be in contact with Miami Approach Control, since we assumed it was ultimately being vectored for an approach to MIA. According to all present, Repo then warned them about a fire on board. "I could get it running," he says, fighting for breath. Interment will follow at 2pm at Florida National Cemetery. Burning jet fuel engulfed the aircraft as it plowed through the swamp. The Department of Technology, Management and Budget supports the business operations of the state agencies through a variety of services including Information Technology project delivery, maintenance and support. The left wingtip banked into the marsh at 227 miles per hour. What happened next must have happened very quickly. Charles Camichel 9/9/1899 (we assume this is the "C. Carmichael" on By. For those who haven't seen the images: In her initial report from the crash site a large Ukrainian wheat field "dotted with purple flowers and Queen Anne's lace" the New York Times . Fortunately, Bud was an expert. Yetta Cohn 3/17/16 Eric Olson holding a piece of wreckage from Flight 401. There was a lot of activity on the ground, but we couldn't see much detail from 3,000 feet. Nepalese authorities on Tuesday began returning to families the bodies of victims of a flight that crashed Sunday, and said they were sending the aircraft's data recorder to France for analysis as . 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. 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. If you like this programming, please become a member. The largest recognizable pieces of wreckage were the cockpit section and the center engine intake and attached fuselage section. Captain Loft had been with the company for over 32 years; a total of 29,700 flight hours. On Thursday the victims of that crash were honored with a memorial in Miami Springs. It's broken, just like him. Serving coffee, tea and soda was all very nice, but this was what counted. He put his arm around her, and they began slogging through knee-deep muck and water. Instead, he would witness the first jumbo jet crash in U.S. history. 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 is a list of those on board, according to family, friends or officials . "The temperature is in the low 70s, and it's beautiful out there tonight." The time was 9:20 p.m. Then a sudden jolt rattled the aircraft. 17 Mar. The 52-year-old flight engineer was one of 101 people who'd died Dec. 29, 1972 when Eastern Flight 401, packed with holiday travelers, slammed into the Everglades . We were standing outside the clubhouse on the ramp, getting ready to lock up the building before leaving, when we both noticed something unusual overhead. 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. Mr. Elder later became an Editor at the San Jose Mercury News. NTSB Crash Report (Flight 401) | No gunshots. A trio of newly minted Rolls-Royce turbofan jet engines made a rumble that could barely be heard by the 163 passengers and 13 crew members seated inside the spacious cabin and reconfigured cockpit. 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. Another flight was being subjected to pre-flight checks when Bob Loft was spotted wandering around the undercarriage. In the 1970s, searching for images on Google did not yet exist. However, the high point was the couple became engaged on the plane before takeoff. Back to the clubhouse and armed with the airspace restrictions, I was ready to fly. Leonhard happened to be looking southeast across the glades. 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. That's why Hansel wanted me to fly; it would be my license that got revoked if we got caught, not his! The flight engineer on duty during this flight was a personal friend to Repo and instantly recognized the face as that of his deceased friend. 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. Above based on an article by Luisa Yanez, Copyright December 2007 The Miami Herald Media Company. Web. I don't see any reason to worry about what fate has brought. 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. He was out there gigging frogs when it happened. Dale Ann Mazzone 5/19/51 Ghosts of Flight 401. 35 Years after an Eastern Air Lines jet crashed into the Everglades, a rescuer looks back. A jumbo jet crashed in the Everglades north of the Tamiami Trial, his sergeant said. Imagine his surprise when he came face to face with Don Repo. He saw mangled bodies and heard the pitiful moans of the dying. Inside the planes cockpit, the crew was trying to slide in a replacement bulb, a roughly two-square-inch all-in-one light assembly unit covered by a translucent green plastic lens, valued at $12 altogether. The wheels were down, locked in position for landing, but the pilot wasn't sure about the forward wheel under the plane's nose. That was an unsurvivable crash, but we made it out," she said. Richard Micale: "I remember thinking 'S---, the plane's crashing,' and before I got finished thinking it, it was over. Before a bad back forced an early retirement, Bud laid carpet, grew avocados and worked as a game warden in the Everglades. Podcast transcript | Subscribe. His book was later made into a TV movie. I had first, second and third-degree burns all over my body. Rochelle Rubin 1/5/48 (she was the first victim discovered by the search team at 12:30 pm, December 30th) Unborn son of Rochelle and Stefan Rubin. Dummett hopes that the event will inspire a permanent memorial to Eastern Flight 401, similar to the ValuJet Memorial off the Tamiami Trail in the Everglades. To all who shivered at night in fear of this creepy story, it seemed that it must have been true as reported. Christina (center) was two-months-old at the time of the crash, making her the youngest survivor . The captain and his first and second officers had every reason to feel good and confident about flying this particular ship. '", Age 79, died Saturday, October 2, 2004 in Land O'Lakes, FL. The unexpected facts behind this famous ghost story from the 1970s. For survivors, the crash has left physical and mental scars. 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. Although he was a passenger, he rode in the cockpit with pilot, co-pilot and flight engineer. Raposa did not have any blankets. Two tours in Southeast Asia had hardened him. It took a while, but the female passenger eventually calmed down. 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. 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