Now you can see the construction of the new pool with your own eyes. The captain recognized him as being none other than Bob. For decades, many of the 75 survivors have reflected on ways to honor those who died in the tragedy. "Preoccupation with a malfunction of the nose landing gear position indicating system distracted the crew's attention from the instruments and allowed the descent to go unnoticed," it continued. The flight attendants' reports after the accident helped to change safety equipment onboard, including the use of shoulder harnesses on all jump seats, which was not the case at the time. Passengers, cabin crew, Pilots, Flight Engineers, even top airline executives, all claimed to have seen 'something' while travelling on some Eastern Airlines aircraft. One of the worst air disasters in South Florida history happened exactly 50 years ago Thursday, when Eastern Airlines Flight 401 slammed into the Florida Everglades, killing more than 100 people . "Ah, tower this is Eastern, ah, four zero one, it looks like we're gonna have to circle, we don't have a light on our nose gear yet," the pilot told the control tower at MIA. "It save me from the 400 pounds of debris that was falling on me," she said. You are here with us," said flight attendant Beverly Raposa, who survived the crash. In the cockpit: Capt. Beverly vowed to make a permanent memorial to those who were killed. The bottom line was that the pilot and crew became so concerned about a burnt-out lightbulb that they neglected to notice the altitude dropping. The monument will be located on the grassy median of the 700 block of Curtis Parkway in Miami Springs, Florida, just opposite the Miami Springs Golf and Country Club driving range. The plane descended out of the sky as pilots were distracted over a landing gear warning light. Bob Loft decided to try to troubleshoot and fix the light before landing and put the plane on autopilot. The precious love we shared means we are never far apart,. On the night of December 29th, 1972, he was a passenger on Eastern Airlines Flight 401 from New York to Miami. Here today, we hope that everyone, myself included, will find peace with this memorial monument.. He was very dedicated," she said. Eastern Airlines Flight #401 (L1011 N310EA) crashed in the Everglades on December 29, 1972. The survivors were taken to a narrow levee where helicopters took them to hospitals. One of the worst air disasters in South Florida history happened exactly 50 years ago Thursday, when Eastern Airlines Flight 401 slammed into the Florida Everglades, killing more than 100 people . According to a National Transportation Safety Board report, the pilots placed the landing gear handle down but noticed the green light that indicates that the nose landing gear is fully extended and locked failed to illuminate. In other words, more building space. The scene of the wreckage of Eastern Airlines Flight 401 in the Everglades west of Miami International Airport. The memorial monument will be accessible by foot and car, with parking and benches located nearby. Both would die in the crash. Expand All . 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. "And it was just hanging off. "It felt so good. Patricia has a master's level postgraduate diploma in Human Factors in Aviation and has written about aviation since 2010. Get the latest aviation news straight to your inbox: Sign up for our newsletters today. The experienced flight crew was distracted when the landing gear light failed to come on, which they believed was caused by a blown bulb. It all happened so quickly that he couldnt turn to check on his wife of 20 days, Lilly Infantino, who sat beside him on the flight from New York to Miami. "It went completely dark so I knew we were doing another go-round, not knowing what was going on," he said. 2023 Endeavor Business Media, LLC. Dawn Quinn's grandfather was pilot Robert Loft. He read a poem in her honor from her perspective as if she were speaking to him from the heavens above. Shortly after, the plane crashed into the swamp. The cockpit crew, scrambling to identify the problem, got permission from air traffic control to circle the Everglades. I say, 'Calm down, Ron, what number is this? She asked the flight engineer later about the oven, and he said he hadn't fixed it, and it didn't need to be fixed. In the hospital, Infantino barely survived. The video below recounts the moment by moment incident that led to the crash as well as interviews with some of the survivors and witnesses. We reach over 20,000 people each month. While making preparations to land, the crew are distracted by a faulty landing gear indicator light and accidentally disengage the autopilot while trying to resolve the problem. The answer was fine, but unfortunately the controller didn't specifically mention the altitude so no one was the wiser. 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 NTSB, when they studied it, they said this crash was unsurvivable, yet 75 miracles came out of there.". Was it because we switched seats? 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. A lack of flashlights amid the poor nighttime visibility in the Everglades impeded the ability of survivors to assist each other. In the hospital he learned just how bad off he was. 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"I hear this voice scream out in the Everglades," he said. Days later, the wreckage of the aircraft was retrieved from the swamp, and some of its parts were able to be salvaged, including a galley. Survivors - Crew and Eastern Employees. Theres another photo Ruiz has analyzed over the years. Almost 40 years ago, Eastern Airlines flight 401 crashed. Infantino, around the time of his wedding, had completed an aptitude test, sent in his rsum and applied for a job as a pilot at Eastern Airlines. Copyright - Florida Web Marketing, Inc. Nestor Suarez is the Publisher of MiamiSprings.com since 1997. There was no fear, no panic, no anything. The flight crew had taken pictures as a keepsake for what would have been their last trip of the year together. This commemorative event in the Everglades represented one of many, which also included smaller meetings among survivors and supporters. ads@MiamiSprings.com. the first officer asked, and the captain immediately exclaimed "Hey, what's happening here?". It was a huge fireball. On another day, a crew was in the cockpit of an aircraft when they were said to have seen Don sitting with them. The pilot was unnerved by what had happened and canceled the flight. Raposa was one of 75 survivors. Meanwhile, a flight attendant on a New York to Miami flight (the very route of the December 1972 crash) opened an overhead locker to find Bob's face peering out at her. She has served as cabin crew on flights from economy-class to private jets. The idea for a memorial for Eastern Flight 401 first popped up at the 35th anniversary gathering in the Everglades. The next, he was covered in water up to his chin. At the front of the aircraft, Sue Tebbs and Adrienne Hamilton were seated for landing. Although not in your arms, Im always in your heart. I survived, she didn't. She was six feet above the swamp but released her harness. However, she explained that it was huge and funds were just not raised for that, and we talked about maybe three to four years ago about maybe doing something smaller.. And those survivors were in the pitch black darkness of the Everglades. He had bad sawgrass cuts all over his face. 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 had not realized that the autopilot was disconnected, which ultimately caused the plane to lose altitude and crash. He says he thinks about the crash every day and it has defined the way he looks at life. "We did something to the altitude," the first officer remarked, and the captain's reply was "What? Infantino and other survivors have for years tried to create one but have been unable to raise the money needed to build it. "My god, you're here, please don't leave me," he remembers telling them. Both pilots and the flight engineer died, along with 2 out of 10 flight attendants and 96 of the 163 passengers on board. Flight attendants Patricia and Stephanie tragically died in the crash, along with the flight crew. "The autopsy was drowning. The 75-year-old woman, who was 25 at the time, was given a standing ovation for spearheading the efforts to build the memorial, located on the grassy median of the Curtiss Parkway and across from the Miami Springs Golf and Country Club. It also offered the opportunity to discuss their efforts to commemorate victims prior to the December 2022 inauguration of the 50th Anniversary of Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 Memorial Monument. One of them was Ron Infantino, an Air Force veteran in Vietnam and aviation aficianado. A short time later, the plane was cleared to turn back to MIA and that's when a crewmember noticed something was amiss. The crash killed 101 people, including Stanich. Its the holidays. They were exhausted. It's certainly not a ten. Amid the planes wreckage, her cream-colored, company-issued suitcase was the only one that remained intact. Flight attendants Mercedes Ruiz and Patricia McQuigg were working at the rear of the aircraft. one of the deadliest plane crashes in South Floridas history, Were down. Flight 401 crashed in Miami 50 years ago. The tragedy was also the 2nd deadliest plane crash in US history at the time, although, today, it now ranks in 16th place. And the aircraft gradually descended into the mushy swamp from 20,000 feet. Based in Dubai, Ghosts On A Plane? Raposa brought the baby to Ruiz, who cradled him to keep warm. It was like a tornado. In 2021, a memorial marker was installed in the Everglades to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the May 11, 1996, ValuJet crash. No, we didnt crash, Beverly. Why them two?. Chapter 4 - Flight 401 Passenger List. Eastern Air Lines flight 401 encountered no problems while cruising between the two cities. The swamp water that may have saved him also caused him to get gangrene, causing it to swell to three times its normal size and smell "like rotten eggs." "It was beautiful," said Infantino said of the jet. Then I knew how bad I was.". The plane was heading away from the city lights. He had 8,876 flight hours, including 3,856 hours on the DC-9. Mercy Ruiz, 75, a survivor and former flight attendant, told the Miami Herald that the solemn event felt like a graduation a gratifying ending to months of working side-by-side with Raposa to make the memorial a reality. In a June 1973 report NTSB investigators said it was possible that the altitude hold function on the autopilot was accidentally disengaged, causing the plane to gradually descend from the 2,000-foot altitude. It was time to leave as each of us will do. "I number things one to ten in my life, ten's the plane crash," he says. Remembering EAL Flt. At the start of 2022, Raposa remembered her promise to honor those who lost their lives on the flight. . "I asked why he wanted to know that and I said Catholic. "The priest came over and asked me what my religion was," he remembers. The City of Miami Springs hosted a Beautiful Memorial Ceremony on Thursday, December 29, 2022. He wanted to look further and reportedly found a problem that could have caused a serious accident. That also gave me an impression like the two girls were marked, Ruiz said. They were surprised to hear the sound of singing in the darkness. Raposa, who worked in a travel agency after leaving Eastern, reminds herself to not leave the house angry and to tell her loved ones how much she cares for them because returning is never a guarantee. She freed herself, then went to work saving others. 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. 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. ", But he was worried about Lilly. 19 de agosto de 1972 (fonte: Jetsite ) O voo 401 da Eastern Air Lines, realizado por um avio Lockheed L-1011, foi vtima de um acidente tendo cado num pntano da Flrida, Estados Unidos (nos chamados Everglades) na noite do dia 29 de dezembro de 1972, causando a morte de 101 das 176 pessoas, entre passageiros e tripulantes, que seguiam a . The Ghost of Flight 401: Directed by Steven Hilliard Stern. All of the bodies were recovered, 99 perished that night, two more would die from their injuries. He held out hope that his wife had survived another patient with their last name was admitted to a hospital in Florida. As you might expect, she later picked from some photos that Don was the engineer she had seen. But no one could hear Infantino yelling for help. According to DeWitt, the monument also represents how through a terrible tragedy in Flight 401, the industry eventually put safety first in many ways.. She has served as cabin crew on flights from economy-class to private jets. Operated by a Lockheed L-1011-385-1 TriStar (N310EA), the aircraft crashed into the Florida Everglades on a nighttime approach to Miami International Airport (MIA) on December 29, 1972. Writer - Patricia joins Simple Flying with over 20 years of experience in aviation. Wow, what an experience that was. 2022 Miami Herald. Marquis would work tirelessly throughout the night and the next day rescuing people. The flight, which departed from JFK International . Total construction cost: $5 MILLION. The group will also try to raise funds for a memorial to honor those who died. Writer - Patricia joins Simple Flying with over 20 years of experience in aviation. The tragedy would never have occurred but for a single, burnt-out light bulb . "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. . Infantino, then 26, awoke bobbing in the swamp, unable to move with an injured arm, chest and knee. /24-7PressRelease/ - MIAMI, FL, December 07, 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 . "I don't know where she was. Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 was a Lockheed L-1011 Tristar 1 jet that crashed into the Florida Everglades on the night of December 29, 1972, causing 101 fatalities (77 initial crash survivors, two died shortly afterward). The captain, along with one of two flight crew members, two of 10 flight attendants, and 97 of 163 passengers, died; 75 . After this, sightings started of Bob and Don, standing in the aisle, cockpit, and galley. Eventually, all of the salvaged parts were removed from aircraft, and neither Bob nor Don were ever seen again. The aircraft operating the route, a Lockheed L1011-385-1 Tristar crashed into the Florida Everglades, resulting in 101 fatalities. Three days after the crash, Lilly Infantinos body was found. After a few minor issues were resolved, the plane was cleared for a 9 p.m. departure to Miami, as Flight 401 with 176 passengers aboard. What happened with ValuJet. Almost immediately, airboat operators who saw the flash responded to the area. 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 . 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