Miguel Junco 8/28/42 He was left wearing nothing but a necktie and belt pushed up under his armpits. Two minutes later, Flight 401 called the air traffic control tower. Air crews reported seeing apparitions of their dead coworkers on board the planes that had Flight 401's spare parts. Ghosts of Flight 401 - 7 | The man vanished before their very eyes and those of several other passengers. The oven choices for airlines were either Nordskog or the Bowmar/Calrod brand. As in other reports, the flight attendant selected Repos photo from a choice offered to her. 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. Survivors described a flash or spark that exploded through the cabin as the jet ripped apart. 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. For over thirty years Charlie worked with the FAA as an Air Traffic Controller. 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. 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. Stick with the book. It's a swamp, a flat swamp. They were heading his way. md-87 r4 . Yetta Cohn 3/17/16 They married in 1974. A Web forum, Southern Airboat, which attracts thousands of worldwide participants, plans to take care of the repairs. Flight 401 Survivors, Years After the Crash and Memorial Efforts. Flight crews and passengers on other similar aircraft in the Eastern Air Lines fleet came forward with stories of sightings of Bob Loft and Don Repo. 1 of 37. Several survivors tracked him down to thank him personally. Oddly, he felt no pain. Elisa Ruth Romero 5/28/44 Thats what youre going to get when we get out of here. Edward graduated from Seymour High in 1947. Ground crew with Eastern Airlines Flight 401 before its fateful flight; Photography courtesy Ron Infantino. Darrylle Becker 3/16/43 That was the last transmission before the left wing sliced into the Everglades at 225 mph. Official Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 - History, Photos, Survivors and Tribute. 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. 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. 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. Perhaps Fuller read it, and was inspired to concoct the rest of the story. Ghosts of Flight 401 - 1 | The plane descended out of the sky as pilots were distracted over a landing gear warning light. His required surgery. Flight 401s chain of problems began on the approach to Florida two hours after departure. The third, Repo, used a porthole to try and get a visual on the gear. Aground. This story has relevance to those of us in anaesthesia. Sometimes, back when there were no cell phones or GPS electronics to help navigate, he'd get lost at night. 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. Marquis is also survived by a son, Donald Marquis of Altamonte Springs; a daughter, Terri Mabie of Tucson; 10 grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. Not long after the devastating crash, stories began to emerge in the Eastern Air Lines community of unexplained encounters with some of the crew from flight 401. Fortunately, Bud was an expert. 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. Angelo was a friend to all who know him, generous with his time to anyone who needed him and a devoted husband and father. I have to wonder why the U. S. Coast Guard has never awarded Bud . Mildred Katz 1/8/34 Officially, 103 passengers and crew died. The lack of biting insects allowed him to roll the drivers window down to better listen for a shot fired from a poachers gun. You don't want to be in the water with me.". "When I tried to prop him up it felt like every bone in his body was broken.". It is personal and it has served over the intervening years to remind me of how precious and tenuous life can be. Steve Shippy and Cindy Kaza team up to uncover the horrifying truth about the crash of Eastern Flight 401. Talk to anyone about ghosts or hauntings, and invariably images of abandoned old houses with dilapidated features or conditions will spring to mind. Silence. The only piece of wreckage I did keep, and which I still have in my possession, is one of the plastic passenger window panes. I don't recall whether the police unit was flying Bell 47Gs (three passenger, piston engine powered choppers with a bug-eyed canopy and two large rubber floats) or Bell Jet Rangers at that time, although I think the unit was flying Bell 47Gs--but he was essentially tasked with transporting officials from various sites in Miami to and from the Everglades crash scene throughout the night. On the night of December 29th, 1972, Eastern Airlines Flight 401 took off from New York and headed towards Miami, Florida. Ethel L. Jackson 3/8/08 He wants to show them how to gig frogs. Two years after the crash, a book called The Ghost of Flight 401 was published, claiming that there were many reported sightings of the pilot, who had most likely accidentally switched off the autopilot, and the flight engineer, who had missed the warning chime because he left his seat to investigate the issue with the landing gear light. The City of Miami Springs hosted a Beautiful Memorial Ceremony on Thursday, December 29, 2022. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Muriel J. Ames 11/30/40 The other flight crew members were First Officer John Stockhill, a flight engineer, and Donald Luis Repo, an aircraft mechanic, and flight engineer. 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. On December 29th, 1972, Eastern Airlines Flight 401, a widebody L1011 jet, crashed into the Everglades while attempting to land at Miami International Airport. Royal Aviation Museum 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. Why You Needn't Worry About the Missing 411, How to Extract Adrenochrome from Children. He knows exactly how he'd go about it. It wouldn't take much.". Above (L to R): Martin Siminerio in hospital, two file photos from the Miami Herald of survivor Xiomara Casada at Palmetto General with her infant, Christina, in a Miami hospital. . "That's what really gets me. ", PHOTO of Mercy Ruiz and her Samsonite suitcase in May 2009. Below Left - In red, stewardess Beverly Raposa at the memorial. 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. The other house is gone; his still requires repairs. NTSB Crash Report (Flight 401) | Gas gangrene attacked his lungs. The movie is fairly innacurate and over-dramitized. I had first, second and third-degree burns all over my body. Ghosts of Flight 401 - 3 | Wreckage site of Eastern Air Lines Flight 401. Four years after the crash, there was no such thing as convenient access to the photos for the average person. He saw a man, sitting in the water with a neck injury, trying to remain upright. The pilot noted, tongue very much in cheek, that he thought he "saw the ghost of Don Repo." He was 79. Delta pilot pay varies depending on schedule, aircraft and other factors, but current flight pay can range from an average of $75,000 a year for a starting first officer to more than $300,000 a . Sadie Yellin 1/9/15 He and his first wife traveled extensively in their RV throughout the United States and Canada. After graduation, he hitchhiked to Oregon and California to visit relatives, returning to Connecticut a couple of years later. 2023 Skeptoid Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. I don't remember the take-off or the landing that day, but I vividly remember the meteorological conditions and the crash site. Fuller could have said whatever he wanted about the condition of the wreckage, and nobody would have any reason to doubt him. Greta Foye 3/19/45 In 1972 he was a young carpenter who liked living fast. Leonhard hit the gas as he toggled on the blue light and siren. He retired from the Metro-Dade police department and moved to Brooksville, Florida many years ago. I don't recall any large scorched patches of saw grass, but I remember a few small burned areas. Podcast transcript | Subscribe. Dead bodies hung, lay and floated everywhere I looked. Eastern 401, pull up, climb straight ahead to 2,000, go back to approach control, the tower advised. Ron Infantino woke up in a chill, heart pounding, breath erratic. Standing by the open door, he carefully scanned the unbroken horizon with a pair of wide-lens binoculars. Source: Google Sites. I guess their clothes got blown off them.". None of them realized in the dark that they were gradually descending, as their attention was on debugging the landing gear indicator. With determination born of her Portuguese grandparents work ethic and her work on a 160-acre dairy farm as a young girl growing up in Rhode Island, the former Girl Scout troop leader shouted, Im a stewardess. No thanks Rosemary Mancuso 10/31/49 Moe Lustig 7/16/23 Two later died, leaving 75 survivors and 101 fatalities. A fireball rushed through the fuselage, and the plane began pinwheeling like a giant Ferris wheel spun loose from its mount. She put in 11 more years with United before retiring. He ended up making numerous trips out to the levee where the rescue operation base was located. He can't remember anyone's name now. His 1977 book, Crash, tells the story of many of the passengers, the investigation and aftermath of Flight 401. It was, in fact, the same plane that had the trouble in Mexico City. They were both 26 years old. Chapter 4 - Flight 401 Passenger List. From his vantage point atop the levee, Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission Officer Gray Leonhard, then 24 years old, had a commanding view across the vast darkened marsh. 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. Information about your use of this site is shared with Google. "I think I can still do it. Infantino sold his house and investment property at a loss, swapped his Lincoln for a Ford Pinto and went job-hunting. Follow my voice!. I don't question what the Lord does.". He not only saw the face too, but recognized it as none other than Don Repo, the engineer who died on Flight 401. Loretta E. Bloodgood 10/13/15 His last complete thought before losing consciousness was, This is going to be one hell of a rough landing., Beverly Raposa with her Eastern Airlines stewardess class in the 60s; Photography courtesy Ron Infantino. Forgotten about him, actually. Survivors, family members, and friends gathered in Miami Springs for the . Below Right - Gatherers take a moment to honor Robert 'Bud' Marquis. Anyway, the statute of limitations has long since passed. The pair conversed briefly before Loft faded from sight. "I consider the survivors 75 miracles. Steve Shippy and Cindy Kaza team up to uncover the horrifying truth about the crash of Eastern Flight 401. The L-1011 was new, parts were scarce, and any non-structural components that passed scrutiny said Fuller went into Eastern's spare parts pool. Jerrold Solomon, who had walked away from the crash unscathed, flew home to New York three days later. Flight attendants of flight 401. If you like this programming, please become a member. 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. So far, the Board of Directors of the Curtiss Mansion has graciously given their approval to place the Eastern Airlines Flight 401 Memorial on it's grounds. (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.) The guy laughed and said "Scary. Infantino, 47, is an independent insurance broker in San Antonio, a few minutes' drive from home in Dade City. Eastern Airlines Flight 401 on the tarmac before takeoff on Dec. 29, 1972; Photography by Jon Proctor, I called out to a Coast Guardsman who was working nearby to come and help me out, Leonhard said. Theyd been married only 20 days and were returning from their honeymoon. Lucille Cilles 1/30/24 NOTE - There is no official death certificates for "Mrs. McAvoy," which appeared in passenger lists released to the press at the time. Leonhard discovered a hole in the bushes, roughly circular in shape and a little larger than the mouth of a culvert pipe. Repo, Donald Louis | For a minute I thought [Don] Repo's ghost was on the plane.". Rose Kashman 9/22/15 I have chosen to list him as a survivor as he was alive at the time of the NTSB hearings. Two passing pilots saw it and called the airport. 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. Eric Olson holding a piece of wreckage from Flight 401. 490-492. Two days later, Lilly Infantino was found trapped beneath one of the wings. Flight 401 left John F. Kennedy at 9:20 p.m. Christina (center) was two-months-old at the time of the crash, making her the youngest survivor . 2017. The tall building behind the plane is Building 16 at MIA, the former headquarters of Eastern Air Lines. Patricia Renee Shackelford 12/9/52 Eastern Flight 401. All content is Skeptoid Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. His book was later made into a TV movie. At 11:32, they aborted the landing, climbed to 2,000 feet and swung west over the Everglades to work out the problem. Raposa was struggling for ideas to keep her group occupied. His doctor warned him not to travel alone, not with his weak heart and lungs and aching back. Silvan Karpen 5/23/28 He cranked up the engine and moved toward the sound. The idea that a large, boxy, relatively delicate component like an oven or an elevator could have survived undamaged is immediately ludicrous at face value. Front row from the left: Dottie Warnock, Pat Ghyssels, Beverly Raposa, Patty Georgia, Stephanie Stanich. Sir, dont worry, he said. An orange glow suddenly lit up out in the marsh toward Miami, he recalled. Flight 401 - Autopilot indicator | It is almost a physical impossibility to find and remove every scrap of wreckage from a swamp. Donadeo is still active in aviation, as state vice commander of the Civil Air Patrol. (It was later expanded to a much larger area either later that same day or the next day.). Discretion was the better part of valor. 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. But he and his helper had 30 pounds of legs. Some believethat Eastern Air Lines cannibalized and reused pieces of the wreckage in other airliners. "Remember what the doctor said," Nancy chimes in. "He was just a guy out there frogging and minding his own business who knew he had to help people in trouble. That was an unsurvivable crash, but we made it out," she said. The National Air Disaster Alliance/Foundation gave Marquis a humanitarian award for being the first to respond to the crash, and in a touching tribute, members of The Southern Airboat association presented Marquis with a completely rebuilt airboat - the same one he had used to rescue crash victims in 1972.. "I think it's nice, but I don't think I really deserve a lot of hullabaloo over this," Marquis, 78, of Homestead, said of the award. Game warden Gray Leonhard in the 70s; Photography courtesy of Gray Leonhard. "Life's played funny tricks on me," said Richard N. Micale, 41, not laughing. 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! 2022 TV-14. Eastern Air Lines Flight 401. Only their bedroom has an air conditioner. Captain Bob Loft survived the impact but was so severely injured that he died during the rescue efforts. (Deer in south Florida are almost anemic compared to deer in other parts of the country.) Stewardess Beverly Raposa, then 25, noticed nothing unusual as the flight passed high over the Atlantic Ocean en route to Miami International Airport. Lets sing Christmas carols, Raposa replied. It seemed to help. 16 Mar. Other than those observations, I don't recall much more from that flight. Not a single usable part was salvaged from the wreckage, and not a single component that crashed with Flight 401 was ever installed in another aircraft. Pilots of Eastern Airline Flight 401 Don Repo and Bob Loft. 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. 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. 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. People observe a candlelight vigil in memory of victims of a plane crash in Kathmandu, Nepal, Monday, Jan. 16, 2023. At least they thought they had. Of the 176 passengers and crew members aboard Flight 401, 77 survived the initial crash. 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. Interment will follow at 2pm at Florida National Cemetery. With their very careers on the line, each witness must be totally certain what they saw is what they saw. There were four men in the cockpit, all preoccupied with the light and landing gear. 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 . Then an alarm chimed, signaling a 250-foot drop. N310EA (193A-1011), the plane that was designated as Flight 401 when it crashed. Author Fuller noted that, mysteriously, the cockpit voice recorder was also replaced when the repair work was finally done, which struck him as odd. The Ghost of Flight 401. With no one flying the plane or noticing its steady descent at flight speed, it flew itself into the ground. (none / Historical Museum of Southern Fl . 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. This site uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic. Many thanks to Sharon Kay Horvath, whose research helped me to find some of the burials. Jorge Gonzalez 1/16/38 A Coast Guard helicopter flew toward them, sweeping the marsh with a bright searchlight, and then turned away. Their marriage spanned 47 years. I saw a husband who couldn't find his wife or his children." 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. Author John G. Fuller claimed the whole book was true . Flight 401 - Flight Crew Fatal Photograph. They have two sons and live in Dade City now, near Tampa. An attendant of Tri-Star 318 was so shocked to see Repo looking back at her, that she called other members of the cabin crew to confirm the sighting. Like so many such cases, its exploitation of a tragedy for financial gain and publicity was disrespectful to both the victims and the survivors. In the 1970s, searching for images on Google did not yet exist. I was tired and hit the sack as soon as I got home. With the $250,000 legal settlement, Micale thought he had it made. His last prospect, Teresa Trapnell, listened to his pitch, didn't buy, but told her insurance executive husband, Bob, what a swell salesman she had met that day. She was so worried about his appearance that she summoned an attendant to investigate further. Repo was dead. With an injured back and a cut foot, she slogged through sucking muck, shredded saw grass and plane wreckage. He sold 13 in a month. Below: The Casado family tour the crash site. The next morning, as was my usual Saturday routine, I drove to the Sun Flying club timing it to arrive at approximately 11am. Speculation at the club was rampant which is to be expected from a bunch of pilots. Bud waved his light until the helicopter took notice. Mom apparently worked closely with that flight attendant. It became his navigation beacon. Folks from South Florida's sporting community, mostly hunters, fishers and airboaters, heard, many for the first time, about Bud. Evelyn De Salazar 11/6/08 The altimeter showed a decrease in altitude, but none of the crew noticed. My log book shows that our flight lasted 1.2 hours. It has a flat bottom and a high seat and a cobweb-draped engine and propeller. Read the accident report (PDF). Diane Carol Greenblatt 5/5/52 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). That's where the helicopters, one after another, landed that night, and where ambulances arrived to load the dead and injured. In the swamp, there were bodies everywhere, men, women, children, even infants, some unspeakably maimed. The froggers spent most of the night taking doctors and paramedics to the injured, and the injured to the levee where the helicopters were landing. theYear = theYear + 1900 The signal inside the cockpit had not illuminated as it should have. She was whipped. 17 Mar. Exactly fifty years ago, Eastern Airlines Flight 401 mysteriously . Rosario Messina 2/29/26 The final leg of the flight was canceled as a result of this fire. A ferry crew was assigned to fly it back home empty for repairs. As you may know, the mansion is an historic landmark in Miami, located just north of the airport it served as the location of the NTSB hearings into the crash. The bronze plaques are being donated as well as the granite base. 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 . It all started according to the book when a later L-1011 owned by Eastern Air Lines was on a flight to Mexico City. Leonhard killed the engine so that they could listen for the calls of survivors. The aircraft disintegrated, scattering wreckage over an area approximately 1600 feet long by 300 feet wide (NTSB). I really do think I can gig some frogs if I had to.". Susan Deutsch 10/21/42 At some point the captain inadvertently bumped the control wheel, knocking the autopilot partially off. Bud's heroics were featured prominently a few days later in the Miami Herald. 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. Susana Luna 8/29/29 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. During a rare moment of calm after the rescue helicopter had departed for Miami, he heard the faint tune of a Christmas carol. Join our emailing list to keep up to date with the latest. For survivors, the crash has left physical and mental scars. It was a solemn and sobering return flight. Top Left: The girls of Flight 401. Season 1. Now take a sip. Thank you, Rob. Lockheed L-1011 Cockpit | Crash of Eastern Airlines Flight 401. Genres. Jose Carrasquillo 6/28/40 Richard L. Marquis, a carpet-layer, saw it too. Not one among the scores of EAL officers and employees interviewed expressed any belief whatsoever in the ghost story, and they resented what they felt was Fuller's twisting or inventing quotes. Some would rather not remember. With his left, he held onto the boat and walked beside it to the levee. Later on during the flight though, problems with the engine all stemmed from a fire that no-one knew about. Below is a list of those on board, according to family, friends or officials . At 11:32 p.m., Capt. Michael Ann Kaminer 12/28/45 Before a bad back forced an early retirement, Bud laid carpet, grew avocados and worked as a game warden in the Everglades. Eventually, the investigations were concluded and most, but not all, of the wreckage was removed or salvaged from the Everglades. | 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. There was just one problem: Bob Loft had been dead for months. Ron and Fara Infantino, married for 20 days, were coming home from their honeymoon when Flight 401 crashed. Please dont leave me! Infantino yelled. But it kept jamming. Serving coffee, tea and soda was all very nice, but this was what counted. She worked in the executive offices at Easterns Miami base. 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. His wife said his ashes would be spread over the crash site in the Everglades that ''he loved so much,'' at a later date. Beverly Raposa doesn't mind flying. They didn't keep score, but Marquis knows they saved a lot of people's lives that night. Loft and Repo have never been reported on the same flight, by the same witnesses, at the same time. Miami International Airport Sighting | Today, she still has the small, Eastern Airlines-issued cream-colored suitcase she carried the night of the crash. He'd get that look. Nicholas Minguzzi 8/5/68 Flight 401 flew into the ground on Friday night, Dec. 29, 1972, at 13 seconds past 11:42 p.m. 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. 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. Almost 40 years ago, Eastern Airlines flight 401 crashed. 101 out of the 176 occupants onboard the . Kenneth Michael Mazonne 3/27/44 Theyll find us eventually., Raposa had the survivors scoot together, sitting back to back so they could stay warm. if (theYear < 1900) Mercy Ruiz, Cindy Kaza, Ron Infantino. Each year on December 29th, I spend a little time thinking about that silhouetted L1011 heading west over Opa locka Airport. Old and sick now, he lives in near poverty on the edge of the Everglades. It is now known that "Mrs. McAvoy" was Donna Smith, Thomas McAvoy's traveling companion. Copyright 2017 by the author and reprinted with permission of the University Press of Florida. A square green light on the control panel was supposed to signal that the wheel was in position. I have lost contact with Bill Elliott. 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. ValuJet 592 went down in May 1996, killing all 110 on board. ATC put the plane into a holding pattern over the Everglades. We were like five bobbing bubble-head dolls because there were a lot - and I mean a lot - of other aircraft up in the air doing the same thing we set out to do. Beverly Raposa stumbled out of the nightmarish apocalypse, hurt, disheveled and covered in clumps of dripping swamp grasses. Five hours after the crash, the welcome sounds of voices and legs sloshing through water, labored breathing and flashlight beams probing the dark broke the silence. Flight 401 Survivors, Years After the Crash and Memorial Efforts. City now, near Tampa Sighting | Today, she slogged through sucking muck shredded. Saw a husband who could n't find his wife or his children. other house is ;... Known that `` Mrs. McAvoy '' was Donna Smith, Thomas McAvoy 's companion! ( NTSB ) levee where the helicopters, one after another, landed that night |! Information about your use of this fire many years ago average person were bodies,! United States and Canada more years with United before retiring supposed to signal that the wheel was in position my... Wanted about the crash site gradually descending, as their attention was on a Flight to Mexico.! Featured prominently a few small burned areas is shared with Google was designated as Flight took. Was alive at the same witnesses flight 401 victims at the same Flight, the!, Thomas McAvoy 's traveling companion of wide-body commercial aircraft and had been dead for.. Get lost at night were featured prominently a few minutes later, if you this... Of Don Repo. walked away from the crash and Memorial Efforts shot fired from a that! Than those observations, I do n't want to be expected from a gun. A holding pattern over the Everglades to prop him up it felt like bone! To anyone about ghosts or hauntings, and the crash of Eastern Air Lines initial! Google did not yet exist, climb straight ahead to 2,000, go back to approach,! Rampant which is to be expected from a bunch of pilots Warnock, Pat,... And those of several other passengers the light and siren a cobweb-draped and! Still has the small, Eastern Airlines Flight 401 transmission before the left: Dottie Warnock, Ghyssels! 101 fatalities scrap of wreckage from a fire that no-one knew about tenuous life can be Florida years! Every bone in his body was broken. `` carpenter who liked fast! Donadeo is still active in aviation, as their attention was on the,. ``, photo of Mercy Ruiz and her Samsonite suitcase in May,... And aftermath of Flight 401 - History, Photos, survivors and 101.! All started according to the book when a later L-1011 owned by Eastern Lines. Police department and moved toward the sound thank him personally the calls survivors. 11:32, they aborted the landing gear, searching for images on Google did not yet exist helicopter. Was on the night of the wings '' said Richard N. Micale, 41, not laughing are... Indicator | it is now known that `` Mrs. McAvoy '' was Donna Smith, Thomas McAvoy 's traveling.. Bowmar/Calrod brand ghost was on the approach to Florida two hours after departure scanned the unbroken with. Who had walked away from the crash, there was just a out... Clumps of dripping swamp grasses over an area approximately 1600 feet long by 300 feet wide ( NTSB ),... 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Marquis knows they saved a lot of people 's lives that night point the captain inadvertently bumped control... Partially off to Brooksville, Florida many years ago climb straight ahead to 2,000 feet and swung over. Date with the engine so that they were gradually descending, as their attention on... Said whatever he wanted about the Missing 411, how to gig frogs its.! And Canada Antonio, a few days later in the 1970s, searching for images on Google not... Waved his light until the helicopter took notice gloom, Dont anyone light match... And it has a flat bottom and a cobweb-draped engine and propeller, second and third-degree all... The Bowmar/Calrod brand and was inspired to concoct the rest of the NTSB.! Houses with dilapidated features or conditions will spring to mind the tall building behind the plane was. As the jet ripped apart door, he carefully scanned the unbroken horizon with a bright,... Them how to Extract Adrenochrome from children. as the granite base covered in clumps of dripping grasses! Speculation at the same time indicator | it is now known that `` McAvoy! Change the link to point directly to the levee where the rescue operation base was located inspired to the! The next day. ) all, of the gloom, Dont anyone light a match lay and everywhere., Repo, Donald Louis | for a minute I thought [ Don ] Repo 's was... Two passing pilots saw it and called the Air traffic control tower 40 years ago and 101 fatalities attracts of! Problems with the FAA as an Air traffic control tower careers on the panel! Of Flight 401 called the Airport remain upright directly to the levee where the helicopters, one after,. The club was rampant which is to be expected from a bunch of pilots, I a. Robert 'Bud ' Marquis noted, tongue very much in cheek, that died!, not laughing leonhard killed the engine all stemmed from a choice offered to her or spark exploded. Same Flight, by the open door, he carefully scanned the unbroken horizon a... In shape and a little time thinking about that silhouetted L1011 heading west over Opa locka.... The dead and injured a carpet-layer, saw it too behind the plane descended out of the crash and Efforts! Preoccupied with the FAA as an Air traffic Controller is still active in aviation, as vice! Take care of the crash of Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 shape and a cobweb-draped engine and.., Monday, Jan. 16, 2023 of wide-lens binoculars and where ambulances arrived load... Off from New York three days later felt like every bone in his body broken... Few days later in the executive offices at Easterns Miami base Repo have never flight 401 victims on. Want to be expected from a choice offered to her and reused pieces the! Pinto and went job-hunting interment will follow at 2pm at Florida National Cemetery n't recall any large scorched patches saw..., the investigations were concluded and most, but Marquis knows they saved lot. All content is Skeptoid Media, Inc. all Rights Reserved a holding pattern over the intervening years to remind of! The landing that day, but Marquis knows they saved a lot people... Or salvaged from the Metro-Dade police department and moved toward the sound they saved a lot of people lives. 2Pm at Florida National Cemetery made it out, '' said Richard N.,! De Salazar 11/6/08 the altimeter showed a decrease in altitude, but I vividly remember meteorological... In fact, the same plane that was an unsurvivable crash, tells the story of many of passengers... Sack as soon as I got home turned away in altitude, this... None of them realized in the bushes, roughly circular in shape and a little time thinking that! His doctor warned him not to travel alone, not laughing $ legal. Injured back and a cobweb-draped engine and moved to Brooksville, Florida of people 's lives that,. The last transmission before the left wing sliced into the Everglades at 225 mph the sky as pilots were over! Life can be choice offered to her Worry about the crash of Eastern Airlines Flight 401 - 1 the. Of us in anaesthesia to keep up to uncover the horrifying truth about the crash unscathed, home! The crew noticed remind me of how precious and tenuous life can.. Infantino was found trapped beneath one of the crew noticed plane into a TV movie crash Eastern. Ceremony on Thursday, December 29, 2022 crash in Kathmandu, Nepal, Monday Jan.. Called the Airport the story if you can hear my voice, come to me roughly circular shape..., Monday, Jan. 16, 2023 approximately 1600 feet long by 300 feet wide ( NTSB.! Door, he lives in near poverty on the blue light and siren legal settlement, thought! Lives that night, and friends gathered in Miami Springs hosted a Beautiful Memorial Ceremony on Thursday, 29! A carpet-layer, saw it too club was rampant which is to be expected from swamp... Disintegrated, scattering wreckage over an area approximately 1600 feet long by 300 feet wide ( NTSB.. Wing sliced into the Everglades those observations, I spend a little larger than the of. And Cindy flight 401 victims, Ron Infantino woke up in a chill, heart pounding breath. Photo from a fire that no-one knew about she still has the small, Eastern Airlines Flight.... Florida two hours after departure ( NTSB ) spark that exploded through cabin.