eastern air lines flight 401 survivors
Passengers, cabin crew, Pilots, Flight Engineers, even top airline executives, all claimed to have seen 'something' while travelling on some Eastern Airlines aircraft. Flight 401 - Flight Crew Fatal Photograph. Pin. And he said the disaster taught him something about life. The 50th Anniversary of Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 Memorial Monument will be dedicated in a 1300 EST ceremony on December 29, 2022. The event, which will begin at 1 p.m., is open to the public. For example, the vice president of Eastern Air Lines once boarded a flight from New York and chatted with a pilot, who he assumed was in charge of that sector. Literally you were inside a tornado.". This week, there will be a special commemoration of the new monument on Curtiss Parkway in memory of the 101 souls lost fifty years ago on Eastern Airlines Flight 401. Now you can see the construction of the new pool with your own eyes. Raposa was one of 75 survivors. Robert Marquis, an airboat captain out hunting frogs that night, witnessed the crash and rushed to the rescue, suffering burns to his face, arms, and legs as he ferried survivors to safety. As the aircraft circled over the Florida Everglades, the flight crew were fixated on whether the landing gear was, in fact, down and the indicator light was faulty. Almost immediately, airboat operators who saw the flash responded to the area. the first officer asked, and the captain immediately exclaimed "Hey, what's happening here?". Ruiz also described the adoption of shoulder straps on jump seats as another significant safety development that followed the crash of Flight 401. Its the holidays. The official cause of the crash was pilot error, the crew being distracted by a faulty nose gear indicator . The couple had two sons. 2020 Pennsylvania Ave NW #315 Aviation consultant Bennie Benitez said there were many positive safety elements that came out of 401, like flash lights on all planes. Infantino and other survivors are holding a memorial service today at 4 p.m. at the site of the Valujet Flight 592 memorial, on the Tamiami Trail, 12 miles west of Krome Avenue. "What saved my life was chute on that dooractually on impact it inflated, she recalled. Writer - Patricia joins Simple Flying with over 20 years of experience in aviation. As the crew crossed over the Florida Everglades, they were trying to lower the landing gear. Edit. The captain recognized him as being none other than Bob. Local 10: Eastern Flight 401: A survivor's story; Flamingo Magazine: Flight 401 Down in the Glades; Read the Story! In it, the crew pranked two of the flight attendants: one with devil horn fingers coming from her head and another jokingly grabbed by the neck. This story was originally published December 29, 2022 7:10 PM. Both would die in the crash. "You couldn't even say goodbye to each . The following is a list of survivors and victims of Eastern Air Lines Flight 401. Beverly had gathered survivors together, seating them back to back to stay warm. It is open to the public. It's certainly not a ten. Hjs wife was not with him. The helicopters had trouble finding the wreckage but Marquis used his headlamp to help signal them, as he continued to pull survivors from the wreckage. One of the envelopes was a letter from Eastern requesting an interview. Survivors. Later, he recognized that the pilot he'd been speaking to was, in fact, Bob. Miami, Florida: A young survivor of an Eastern Airlines Tristar jet which crashed in the Everglades near Miami is helped from a helicopter by hospital personnel in Miami. At one point he noticed that his right arm didn't seem right. Ruiz also described the anniversary as an opportunity to reflect on the lives lost in the crash. Nonetheless, at one point, efforts appeared to come to a standstill until the beginning of 2022, when Raposa, in a conference call, emphasized a desire for action ahead of the 50th anniversary. Ruiz said this began many, many years back with efforts to commemorate the victims from us, the surviving crew members, people close to the victims, and all of the people from our community who really wanted to join us.. The next, he was covered in water up to his chin. One survivor, certain Marquis carried him to safety, once showed up with a $1,000 check. Please review this photograph closely. The crash claimed the lives of 101 passengers and crew. The death toll was, in 1972, the highest of any one-plane accident. The Memorial is along the Curtiss Parkway median directly across from the driving range. The harrowing tale of three survivors of the 1972 crash of Eastern Airlines flight 401 into the Everglades. Today Infantino will present two wreaths, one for Flight 401 and the other for Valujet, the 1996 Everglades crash that killed all 110 on board. Raposa added that Flight 401 has also been widely incorporated into safety training for pilots and flight attendants. The couple dated for a few years before getting married in December 1972. All rights reserved, WATCH LIVE: Small Plane Makes Emergency Landing on Roadway in Western Broward, Jury Sides With Flo Rida, Awards $82 Million in Lawsuit Against Celsius, Small Plane Makes Emergency Landing on Road in Western Broward, Man in Custody After Allegedly Killing Co-Worker at Hollywood Business: Police, Netflix Is Hiring a Flight Attendant for One of Its Private Jets and the Job Pays Up to $385,000. I can also come here to feel her and be close to her.. Soon passengers and crew on those aircraft report seeing what they believe to be the ghost of the . In the hospital, Infantino barely survived. Survivors will unveil a memorial marker on a grassy median of Curtiss Parkway in Miami Springs, across from the country club, on Dec. 29, the anniversary of the crash. In the 1970's, tales of such ghostly apparitions flew around the USA and the airline world. The crash killed 101 people, including Stanich. The precious love we shared means we are never far apart, Infantino said. Contact: [email protected], 2022 Airways Publishing, LLC. There were 75 at the time, 20 years ago tonight. It happened just west of Miami International Airport. Raposa emphasized that she feels safer up there. Raposa concluded that 50 years beyond the crash, survivors and supporters still carry the victims of Flight 401 in their hearts. - Flight Safety Foundation. READ MORE: The day when an Eastern Airlines jet crashed into the Florida Everglades. The jumbo jet had been making a late evening flight from New York to Miami. Those still in a sufficiently usable state were used again on the Eastern Air Lines fleet. It happened 40 years ago today on a cold dark night in the Everglades, a brand new "Whisperliner" jumbo jet . At 7:45 p.m. on December 29 that year, an Eastern Air Lines jet out of Tampa, Fla. arrived at Kennedy Airport, one of the airline's hubs, for routine maintenance. Ron Infantino is a passenger who survived the tragedy. When an air traffic controller at MIA noticed they were flying at 900 feet when they should have been at 2000, he contacted the cockpit and asked, "How are things coming along out there?" Multiple Emmy award winning journalist Ted Scouten has been the familiar face at the scene of international stories that have affected South Florida since 1998. Mercedes was thrown from the aircraft, still trapped in her jump seat with injuries to her head and a broken pelvis. McQuigg and Raposa went on to continue flying, with McQuigg still working in the profession. "My grandfather was a kind, humble, perfectionist. She heard the cries of people and shouted, 'Follow my voice, I am a flight attendant' so that any surviving passengers could find her. But today, for Infantino, is about Lilly and the other lost lives. 2022 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Thirteen seconds past 11:42 p.m., the plane flew into the Everglades and crashed almost 20 miles northwest of Miami International Airport and eight miles north of Tamiami Trail. Who could this have been? I survived, she didn't. "It felt so good. Her face was burnt, but the coolness of the swamp seemed a relief. Two days into recovery his dad came into his hospital room. My arm was hanging there. The flight had left JFK Airport in New York en-route to Miami International Airport when it went down shortly before midnight on Dec. 29, 1972, in the swampland some 18 miles west-northwest of the airport. I carry those folks in my heart every single day, Raposa said of those who died in the tragedy. Ruiz said that the public should understand that the job of a flight attendant is highly professional before emphasizing that we are highly trained and our main focus when we are hired and trained is safety. Ruiz and Raposa both emphasized their confidence in the safety of air travel. 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. We reach over 20,000 people each month. He had bad sawgrass cuts all over his face. The investigation into the crash took months. On returning to the galley, another flight attendant saw an engineer fixing the oven. Since the flight was full, he exercised his privilege as an Eastern Airlines employee, and rode in the cockpit jumpseat. The ceremony will take place on Thursday, December 29, 2022, at 1pm on Curtiss Parkway, near the Miami Springs Golf Course. "I don't know where she was. The Lockheed L-1011 crashed into the Florida Everglades. Infantino served in Vietnam, but it was this flight, not war that brought him closest to death. He spends most of his vacations in Miami. The U.S. Coast Guard had been quickly notified by the tower at MIA and had helicopters airborne almost immediately from their station in Opa-locka. After the impact the aircraft disintegrated, scattering wreckage over an area approximately 1,600 feet long and 300 feet wide. 401 JFK-MIA Dec. 29, 1972. She has served as cabin crew on flights from economy-class to private jets. Ultimately, the probable cause was determined to be "the failure of the flight crew to monitor the flight instruments during the final 4 minutes of flight, and to detect an unexpected descent soon enough to prevent impact with the ground," the NTSB report said. "She yelled, 'Don't anybody light any matches in the Everglades,' which was smart because of all the jet fuel.". In the hospital he learned just how bad off he was. Those were the last words recovered from the flight voice recorder. The aircraft was a five-year-old McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31 registered as N8984E. . A ball of fire erupted in the cabin and the aircraft cartwheeled and broke into pieces. The flooring of the plane crumbled. However, the indicator light failed to show that the landing gear was locked down. This is somewhere where I can come to visit her apart from her gravesite, Shackleford said. Three of the 4 cockpit crew members, two of the 10 flight attendants, and 96 of the 163 passengers were killed; there were 75 survivors. The senior flight attendant said he was dazed and unresponsive when spoken to and was not on the passenger list. The flight path of Eastern Airlines Flight 401 in its final moments. He heard alligators and snakes splash around him as whirring airboats and helicopters searched for survivors. The plane plunged into the Everglades after taking off from the Miami airport. In other words, more building space. The plane then veered to the left and was thrown into darkness. A look at some of the strange tales that emerged after the accident. Patricia commented on the fact that it was the holiday season and maybe they'd earn some overtime. It was so dark she couldnt see her hands in front of her. Raposa was one of 75 survivors. But that turned out to be Infantinos uncle, who wasnt on the plane. "They'll never be forgotten.". Fortunately, there were 75 survivors during that horrible tragedy of late 1972. READ MORE: An Eastern plane crashed into the Everglades in 1972. The lights of Miami vanished behind them. The flight crew had taken pictures as a keepsake for what would have been their last trip of the year together. Survivors - Crew and Eastern Employees. "She said, 'I have to find my family, but here's my sweater.' "I can't see it, it's pitch dark and I throw the little light, I get, ah, nothing," the second officer said, according to the report. Patricia has a master's level postgraduate diploma in Human Factors in Aviation and has written about aviation since 2010. 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. They were exhausted. The cockpit crew, scrambling to identify the problem, got permission from air traffic control to circle the Everglades. No, they dont, Raposa, now 75, recalls telling Stanich. All are South Florida survivors of the crash of Eastern Flight #401 now trying . Former flight attendant Beverly Raposa, one of 75 people who survived after the plane crashed with 176 people on board, said that she has never forgotten the passengers and crew members who died. The appearance of the dead flight engineer () was confirmed by the flight engineer." The granite monument, installed just north of the Miami International Airport, now serves as a permanent tribute to those who died when the Miami-bound Eastern Air Lines flight 401 crashed in the Everglades on the night of Dec. 29, 1972. Truth or scare? Shelley and Steve Rubin and their unborn baby boy - Sandy Shapiro December 30, 2020 . Miami, Florida Dec 10, 2022 (Issuewire.com) - Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 was on its final approach into Miami shortly before midnight 50 years ago this month when a single light bulb on the aircraft's instrument panel failed to illuminate.Momentarily distracted, the flight crew failed to notice as the Lockheed L-1011 slowly dropped from the sky and into the blackness of the Everglades below. On this day in 1972, Eastern Airlines Flight 401 crashes in the Everglades. "They were screaming, next thing I knew it, the overhead luggage was flying all over the place and the lights were going on and off like crazy. The latest local, regional and national news events are presented by the Local 10 News Team along with updated sports, weather and traffic. While in the cockpit one day, preparing for the flight, another pilot heard loud knocks from under the floor beneath him. ", "We're still at two thousand right?" And she knows what I went through, so you have that same bonding with one another.". So I'll never forget it, I brought it to my chest and held it.". Eastern Airlines Flight 401 - Crash Investigation, Findings and Passenger List . On December 29, 1972, Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 crashes into the Florida Everglades, resulting in 101 fatalities. Infantino had met his wife, a Little Havana resident, when he moved to Miami after the Air Force. Flashlights also became a standard piece of safety equipment at each jump seat. There was no fear, no panic, no anything. A series of errors brought down the plane that December night, between Christmas and New Years. After placing a seat cushion under Ruizs head, Raposa left to search for other survivors. It was time to leave as each of us will do. Although not in your arms, Im always in your heart. According to the Official Eastern Airlines Flight 401 history website, the passengers that survived the flight are: In addition to the passengers, the following crew members and Eastern Airlines employees also survived the crash: To visit the Memorial, just head towards the Miami Springs Golf and Country Club and park at the southern edge of the parking along Curtiss Parkway or at the Driving Range. I number things from 1 to 10, and 10 [is] a plane crash, he said. Copyright 2023 Local10.com is published by WPLG INC., a Berkshire Hathaway company. The jet carried 167 passengers to Miami from New York. So when Im stuck in traffic, I say, Ron, What number is this? The two girls in the photograph that are having the bunny ears (Patricia Ghyssels) and the one jokingly being choked (Stephanie Stanich) were the only two flight attendants who did . They were Stanich and Ghyssels, the two flight attendants who died in the crash. The Story Of Eastern Air Lines Flight 401. "They were incredible," says Infantino. Earlier this year, Simple Flying took a look at the eight most intriguing examples. She found Beverly and commented 'it's a bad dream, we are going to wake up.' She and Marquis would be remembered as two of the heroes from that night. Copies of that photo are now bound in a leather album that Eastern gave all the flight attendants of Flight 401 after the tragedy. "We did something to the altitude," the first officer remarked, and the captain's reply was "What? Beverly has often wondered how she survived how anyone survived. Advertise: Call 305.775.4094 or email: Infantino and other survivors have for years tried to create one but have been unable to raise the money needed to build it. 103 passengers and crew members died in the crash or shortly thereafter and 75 passengers/crew survived. Although 75 people survived, the accident still resulted in the deaths of 101 occupants, including Captain Robert 'Bob' Loft and Flight Engineer Donald 'Don' Repo. There were 67 survivors. Infantino, then 26, awoke bobbing in the swamp, unable to move with an injured arm, chest and knee. 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. Bud Marquis raced to the scene to assist survivors and he used his head-mounted light to signal the first U. S. Coast Guard HH-52A as to where . 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