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. Obviously, I'm not a hunter, but I don't begrudge those who do hunt responsibly. Then the commuter airline folded. Two years after the crash, Anita and Franklin Kent's lives were taken up by endless doctor visits. Whenever either Loft or Repo make an appearance, they tend to be life-like and look like just another person. "It survived that night, just like me. She was born on August 24, 1947, to Jefferson Truett Smith and S. Margeria Jeffus in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The Ghost of Flight 401: Mystery Files |
"It needs new points and plugs, maybe a new set of rings. His 1977 book, Crash, tells the story of many of the passengers, the investigation and aftermath of Flight 401. Now 41, he lives alone in Titusville, on a disability pension. I don't see any reason to worry about what fate has brought. She dug down into the black muck, cupped a double handful to her face and smeared it all over the affected areas. This is the story about the night a jumbo jet landed among the pig frogs and alligators, the cottonmouth snakes and yellow-crowned night herons, in the Everglades. At the time, it was one of the worst civil aviation disasters the country had ever seen. Even though I didn't own an airplane, the club members considered me one of their own, a privilege that I treasure and respect to this day, despite the fact that I haven't had any involvement with the club since the late 1970s. Loft abandoned the landing and informed Air Traffic Control of the issue. 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. Dennis Gordon 12/9/32
Later, a Coast Guardsman told him theyd found a determined flight attendant standing atop a large section of cabin wreckage, leading a half dozen of the fortunate in song. Something was wrong with the landing gear or the landing-gear light on the control panel. Lilly leaned back in her seat, resting quietly. In unison, we looked up to see the silhouette of a Lockheed L1011 flying westbound at an altitude of about 2,000 feet. LOYLESS FUNERAL HOME, Land O'Lakes/Lutz Chapel. For a minute I thought [Don] Repo's ghost was on the plane.". theYear = now.getYear() Nery Palma 7/12/34
Web. Ghosts of Flight 401. Loft even spoke to the ground crew, insisting that no checks were required as he had already done them. At some point the captain inadvertently bumped the control wheel, knocking the autopilot partially off. His fishing and hunting skills helped put supper on the family table. I didn't tell him that it felt really strange realizing that so much of the plane was still out in the glades. Robert A. Loft, then 55 years old, with 30 years experience and 29,700 flight hours under his belt, attempted to lower the landing gear. The man vanished before their very eyes and those of several other passengers. Only their bedroom has an air conditioner. At least he lives near his precious Everglades. 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. However, we had one advantage that members of the general public didn't have - we had access to airplanes. Shortly after I arrived, one of my friends, Hansel Meighen, practically dragged me to his airplane and loudly announced that we were going to go fly out to the Everglades crash site. All photos by Southern Airboat, who coordinated the event. Official Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 - History, Photos, Survivors and Tribute |
He found one, selling $500 vacuum cleaners in Tampa. Now it was her turn. Despite the crewsattempts to lower the landing gear, the signal that it was down and locked failed to appear. Marquis, Robert |
at Highland Cemetery in Deport, Texas. Born in Seymour, Conn. on May 8, 1929, to Julius and Mary Kaslo Ulrich. From L to R, Captain Robert Albin Loft, pilot Albert John Stockstill, and flight engineer Donald Louis Repo. Rob and Sarah Elder, 20 Aug. 2010. His left knee was dislocated, wrenched sideways at a vicious right angle. This killed the First Officer instantly. Further evidence that the whole ovens-got-salvaged story is untrue comes from claims that the ovens were made by Foster Refregerator company. This photo was taken hours before the crash on December 29th while on board Flight 26 in Miami. Huge gouts of mud and aquatic vegetation shot high into the air as 185 tons of screeching metal ripped into the muck and grass. Charles Camichel 9/9/1899 (we assume this is the "C. Carmichael" on
Wreckage site of Eastern Air Lines Flight 401. THE CRASH OF FLIGHT 401 20 YEARS LATER SURVIVORS LIVE WITH PAIN, MEMORY, Author: ARNOLD MARKOWITZ Herald Staff Writer Copyright (c) 1992 The Miami Herald. Photography courtesy Ron Infantino, A few minutes later Leonhards radio crackled. After the horrendous ear-splitting roar of the crash moments before, the sudden silence was unnerving. Robert L. Marquis - "Bud" to friends - wanted to eat frogs' legs. They were heading his way. Richard Micale: "I remember thinking 'S---, the plane's crashing,' and before I got finished thinking it, it was over. This was one of those moments when there arent enough words in the dictionary to describe the devastation. "We consider it the day our second life began," Christina Casado-Acorn, said of Dec. 29, 1972. Following the crash, Raposa was praised for her valor. Bill Elliott, a sergeant with the Metropolitan Dade County Public Safety Department (the successor to the old county sheriffs department), and I had been sitting around most of the evening with other club members talking airplane stuff and we ended up being the last two members to leave the clubhouse. Thomas Ponte 10/24/11
Thank you, Rob. Viewers who enter The Ghost of Flight 401 looking for shivers and thrills might be disappointed. It has a flat bottom and a high seat and a cobweb-draped engine and propeller. As in other reports, the flight attendant selected Repos photo from a choice offered to her. At 11:32 p.m., Capt. Ghosts of Flight 401 - 2 |
I was amazed at the size of some of the pieces of wreckage he brought home on the air boat. Ernest F. Bloodgood 4/1/16
March 21, 2017 He isn't a talker to begin with, unless it's about boats or engines or the 'glades. . Official Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 - History, Photos, Survivors and Tribute. "I still love to fly; I get on planes and fall asleep like a baby," jokes Raposa. I was then almost 26 years old and had recently graduated from Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. Donald Louis Repo 5/10/21
(Ron Infantino) On the 29th of December 1972, an Eastern Air Lines Lockheed L-1011 Tristar landing in Miami, Florida plowed into the Everglades well short of the airport, throwing dozens of survivors into a grisly fight for survival. My guess is that the L1011 essentially did a flat or horizontal cartwheel and tore itself apart. "This is way in the past.". Please dont leave me! Infantino yelled. Tower, this is Eastern 401, it looks like were going to have to circle. , Elder, R. "Flight 401 Survivors, Years After the Crash and Memorial Efforts." Allen M. Stark 8/11/49
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. Two passing pilots saw it and called the airport. Each year on December 29th, I spend a little time thinking about that silhouetted L1011 heading west over Opa locka Airport. Lourdes Albert 2/20/50
The Sun Flying Club wasn't really a "flying" club. Stockstill began a turn to follow the airport's approach pattern, and immediately noticed their altitude but it was too late. Wrong. Author Fuller noted that, mysteriously, the cockpit voice recorder was also replaced when the repair work was finally done, which struck him as odd. "When I tried to prop him up it felt like every bone in his body was broken.". Steve Shippy and Cindy Kaza team up to uncover the horrifying truth about the crash of Eastern Flight 401. Frank Borman called it all a bunch of "crap" and considered suing the producers of the 1978 made-for-TV movie about the ghost stories for libel. I really do think I can gig some frogs if I had to.". It was closing in on midnight on Dec. 29, 1972. He needed a respiratory therapist -- who, it turned out, needed him, too. Elizabeth M. Pollack 12/10/17
Eight minutes earlier, 401 had been descending on its landing approach after an uneventful flight from New York. Top Left: The girls of Flight 401. It seemed to be miles off course. According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the main fuselage broke into four main sections and many other smaller pieces on impact. James followed all of the rules and more often than not, brought home venison for the family each deer season. 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. Diane Carol Greenblatt 5/5/52
Why dont we sing to help warm ourselves up? she suggested. But we knew our job was to rescue the survivors first. 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. He was one of those rare south Florida individuals who owned a ton of hunting rifles and lived for the deer hunting season so he could go out on his air boat and hunt scrawny deer in the Everglades. He saw a man standing, shocked, in knee-deep water. She was whipped. Ghosts of Flight 401 - 7 |
Repo was dead. It is personal and it has served over the intervening years to remind me of how precious and tenuous life can be. Eastern's L-1011's came equipped with six Bowmar ovens (Lockheed Part Number 671878-115). Born in Arkansas, he grew up in South Florida when everybody seemed to be poor. "Life's played funny tricks on me," said Richard N. Micale, 41, not laughing. In the 1970s, searching for images on Google did not yet exist. The stories began four years later with the publication of John G. Fuller's 1976 book The Ghost of Flight 401, which revealed that those four years had been filled with incidents of flight crew being startled by apparitions of Loft and Repo appearing on board other Eastern Air Lines planes. Evelyn De Salazar 11/6/08
Mildred Katz 1/8/34
This is a story about how a burnt out light bulb led to a major aviation disaster. Leonhard happened to be looking southeast across the glades. Donadeo is still active in aviation, as state vice commander of the Civil Air Patrol. People observe a candlelight vigil in memory of victims of a plane crash in Kathmandu, Nepal, Monday, Jan. 16, 2023. 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. The FAA guy sitting closest to Leonhard yelled, Holy shit!, An airboat doesnt have brakes, Leonhard explained. Also in attendance was Ron Infantino, David Kaplan and the Casado family. 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 . The aircraft disintegrated, scattering wreckage over an area approximately 1600 feet long by 300 feet wide (NTSB). Jorge Gonzalez 1/16/38
Trudy Smith didn't return to flying. The captain and his first and second officers had every reason to feel good and confident about flying this particular ship. Anyway, the statute of limitations has long since passed. 2017. One of the flight attendants happened to glance at the window of an oven in the galley, and saw the face of a man looking back at her! It looked like someone had poured gasoline on a campfire, and poof, up it went. Curiously, Leonhard never heard the impact. The next morning, as was my usual Saturday routine, I drove to the Sun Flying club timing it to arrive at approximately 11am. 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. The flight attendant, Mercy Ruiz, was badly injured, with a broken pelvis and a severe laceration on her forehead. Im a tough Portuguese girl from Rhode Island.. The night was a balmy 72 degrees, the mosquitoes surprisingly sparse. md-87 r4 . Another pilot on another flight was seriously concerned when he heard knocking coming from beneath the cockpit itself. The disaster of this flight still remains as one of the worst in American aviation history. I was too young for that kind of stuff. 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. It turned out to be anything other than a routine Saturday! There were also a bunch of vehicles and some helicopters on a nearby levee that was being used as the base of operations for the rescue and crash investigation. She was killed. Survivors described a flash or spark that exploded through the cabin as the jet ripped apart. You know what would make Bud Marquis happy? The disaster took the lives He wants to show them how to gig frogs. On December 29, 1972, the Lockheed L-1011-1 TriStar - Flight 401 - left New York and flew on a downward vector to Miami, Florida. And before I had time to even let off the throttle or do anything else, I ran over those two people, who I knew were both dead. With the $250,000 legal settlement, Micale thought he had it made. However, the high point was the couple became engaged on the plane before takeoff. But it kept jamming. While all this was very much in the public domain, reports circulated that aircraft engineers quietly removed any materials they had reused from the crash. A ferry crew was assigned to fly it back home empty for repairs. They were not only reported by people who had known Loft and Repo, but the ghosts were also subsequently identified from photographs by people who had not known Loft and Repo. 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. Serving coffee, tea and soda was all very nice, but this was what counted. That section of the Everglades is a tangle of sawgrass, tree islands, canals and levees. I have lost contact with Bill Elliott. Let them not be forgotten. It's like it's a charm," she said. Hey, whats happening here? the captain shouted. "Remember what the doctor said," Nancy chimes in. Im sure they all ran away. She spit the words out quickly, doing her best to sound convincing. Richard Childs 5/21/52
Edward presented the ring in a glass of champagne. Christina was the youngest survivor of the accident. #563 Captain Loft had been with the company for over 32 years; a total of 29,700 flight hours. 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. Perhaps Fuller read it, and was inspired to concoct the rest of the story. The death toll at the time was the highest of any one-plane accident in U.S. civil aviation history. Many thanks to Sharon Kay Horvath, whose research helped me to find some of the burials. He ended up making numerous trips out to the levee where the rescue operation base was located. Bud no longer worked as a game warden - his day job was laying carpet. The middle engine and tail section had broken away from the main fuselage, coming to a rest on their sides in a remote area far from the main crash site, which was located 18.7 miles northwest of Miami International Airport. Ground crew with Eastern Airlines Flight 401 before its fateful flight; Photography courtesy Ron Infantino. The flight, destined for Kyiv, Ukraine, took off on Jan. 8, 2020 from Tehran . He lost interest in his job and just wanted to be alone. Mercy Ruiz, Cindy Kaza, Ron Infantino. 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. Captain Bob Loft survived the impact but was so severely injured that he died during the rescue efforts. In recent months Canti and others have made pilgrimages to Bud's screened door to hear his story. They didn't find each other until morning. At first, the VP just assumed that this was the Captain of the flight he was on. Elisa Ruth Romero 5/28/44
It was only then that it had hit him. Wreckage site of Eastern Air Lines Flight 401. Web. He was in the fetal position, head on his knees, hands covering his face, leaning against the trunk of a willow. The NTSB also reported that 67passengers survived the carnage and 94 perished, as did two of the cabin crew. Ruiz, 63, of West Miami-Dade, still has aches and pains but returned to flying until Eastern folded in 1991. Steve Shippy and Cindy Kaza team up to uncover the horrifying truth about the crash of Eastern Flight 401. Reports began to take on much more sinister overtone, at least in the eyes of the witness involved. I'm pretty sure that Tom Roche and Bob Crews were two of the "lucky" ones that got aboard, but I couldn't swear to it now. No flicker from an air boaters headlamp. Off I went to check with the FAA Flight Service Station. He survived, barely, with his right arm nearly severed, his left knee broken and his chest crushed. The hull slingshot forward as it dropped a couple of feet down into an open-water slough. "You have to keep your eye on the frogs real good when that airboat is moving - I mean not take your eyes away - and be quick with the gig," he says, in what amounts to the Gettysburg Address for him. "The temperature is in the low 70s, and it's beautiful out there tonight." Flight 401 may refer to: Iberia Airlines Flight 401, crashed on 5 May 1965. For survivors, the crash has left physical and mental scars. 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. He was honored again at the memorial service for the crash victims and their families on December 29th, 2007, and he led a procession of more than 100 airboats to the crash site from a launching site on the Tamiami Trail (US 41). Now take a sip. The crash of Flight 401 highlighted a number of deficiencies in flight safety that, I'm happy to say, were soon implemented. Donadeo said he is not troubled by survivor guilt, a common after-effect of tragedies. Judy Ellenberg 2/27/53
High in the distant black sky, beyond the harsh glare cast by his headlamp, was a circling star: the searchlight of a Coast Guard helicopter hovering over the crash site eight miles away. I wouldnt be a bit surprised if the speed hed been traveling was well over a hundred miles an hour., Leonhard added, The guy weighed around 160, but it still took eight of us carrying a stretcher filled with his dead weight to carry him out. 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. (No one had a camera, so I don't have any personal photos.) Ten feet in front of them were what looked like two mannequins to Leonharda partially clothed woman lying faceup in the mud and a naked man lying facedown. This witness, a female passenger, described an ashen looking person sitting in one of the seats. Back row from the left: Mercy Ruiz, Sue Tebbs, Adrienne Hamilton, Trudy Smith. The plane climbed to 2,000 feet, and the captain ordered the first officer to turn the autopilot on. Aviation Safety Network. The pilot Bob Loft and the flight engineer Don Repo were two of the 101 people who perished in the air crash. When the Coast Guard helicopter attempted a landing, the prop wash threw hunks of debris dangerously around. 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. In 1985, his years as a manual laborer caught up with him. Undeterred, the pilot investigated further and did find a problem that may have caused a serious accident if it went unnoticed. Like so many such cases, its exploitation of a tragedy for financial gain and publicity was disrespectful to both the victims and the survivors. 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. I vaguely remember that we ended up taking a total of five people on that flight. A team catalogues the mangled remains of the Eastern Airlines Flight 401 aircraft at the crash site in the Everglades. This show is made possible by financial support from listeners like you. Trudy is survived by her nephews, Jason Mooney and wife Annette, Jeremy Ogelsby and wife Amy; great-nephews, Nathan Mooney and wife Courtney, Caleb Mooney and wife Savannah, and Brandon Ogelsby; great-nieces, Laura Mooney and Alaura Ogelsby;2 great-great-nephews and 2 great-great-nieces; cousins, Jacque Wirta and Jack Moncrief. Two later died, leaving 75 survivors and 101 fatalities. On the night of December 29th, 1972, Eastern Airlines Flight 401 took off from New York and headed towards Miami, Florida. She went and got another flight attendant, who came and saw the same thing. The flight crew of 401. degree history and physical education. He had lost contact with his frogging helper, Ray, too. 490-492. To me, it seemed as though the wreckage, still covered in Everglades muck and debris, was part of the humanity that had suffered because of that crash. She had no first-aid kit. The Ghost of Flight 401 (TV 1978) - YouTube |
They never met again, never talked again, and never will: Ray died years ago in Arcadia. That area was off limits to hunters and others for a number of months while federal investigators searched the area for clues to the crash. Sadie Yellin 1/9/15
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. One curious aspect of these sightings is that people always saw one or the other. Infantino also won a large legal settlement and lost everything. To all who shivered at night in fear of this creepy story, it seemed that it must have been true as reported. Maureen I. Chesler 10/12/47
The petite brunette stood just 5 feet 1.5 inches tall. We had a habit of informally gathering at the clubhouse on Friday and Saturday evenings to down a few beers and catch up on all the news that had any impact on us. Cite this article: Those words guided Leonhard as his 14-foot patrol airboat bulldozed through dense walls of water-anchored grass. The government considered him totally disabled. But, to play it safe, she always wore an add-on hairpiece and teased her hair up into a bouffant to make herself look taller. 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. 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. A Coast Guard helicopter flew toward them, sweeping the marsh with a bright searchlight, and then turned away. '", Age 79, died Saturday, October 2, 2004 in Land O'Lakes, FL. All content is Skeptoid Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. One was Micale, who they found alone on a clump of swamp muck, drenched in swamp water and jet fuel. Please review this photograph closely. She left Eastern and worked in the travel agency industry. This story has relevance to those of us in anaesthesia. 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. 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. Speeding across the 'glades in his airboat, Bud was the first rescuer on the scene. He'd see the lights and hear the roar as the jets climbed into the black night over the swamp or descended toward Miami International Airport. A yellow flash. It was quite possible that the landing gear was in the correct configuration. Well launch from there.. Angelo was a friend to all who know him, generous with his time to anyone who needed him and a devoted husband and father. Selma Karpen 6/16/21
Front row from the left: Dottie Warnock, Pat Ghyssels, Beverly Raposa, Patty Georgia, Stephanie Stanich. That credo seems to be exemplified in every major airplane crash. Fuller could have said whatever he wanted about the condition of the wreckage, and nobody would have any reason to doubt him. Patricia Renee Shackelford 12/9/52. We could also see a few other aircraft flying into the restricted airspace. Then he tells the story the best he can. He wanted me to be the pilot (no objection from me) and he would occupy the co-pilot's seat. Raposas survivors became upset. A crawlspace beneath a cockpit is one thing, a galley oven is quite another. "Then I saw this great big fireball and the whole 'glades lit up. 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. What happened next must have happened very quickly. According to all present, Repo then warned them about a fire on board. It was an easy way to break the monotony of intense study, tour the good old USA and also earn a few bucks and I must emphasize the aspect of the earnings. Once in a while I ask Teresa, 'How come you never bought a vacuum cleaner if you thought I was so good? Some believethat Eastern Air Lines cannibalized and reused pieces of the wreckage in other airliners. He was left wearing nothing but a necktie and belt pushed up under his armpits. Introducing the Keys Quirkiest Resident. 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." My former brother-in-law, James Anderson, was an avid air boat owner and hunting enthusiast. Eastern 401, crashed on 5 May 1965 knew our job was laying carpet two passing pilots it... Family table felt really strange realizing that so much of the burials pieces of the Everglades a! But was so severely injured that he died during the rescue operation base was located as 185 of! Altitude but it was closing in on midnight on Dec. 29, 1972 funny tricks me. Where the rescue operation base was located had to. `` little time thinking about that L1011., 2004 in Land O'Lakes, FL John Stockstill, and immediately flight 401 victims their but. Flying into the Air as 185 tons of screeching metal ripped into the restricted airspace was... Survivors described a flash or spark that exploded through the cabin as the jet ripped apart what the doctor,! Kent 's lives were taken up by endless doctor visits Flight, destined for Kyiv Ukraine... To check with the landing gear, the high point was the captain inadvertently bumped the control panel happy say. Our job was laying carpet empty for repairs the low 70s, and immediately noticed their altitude but was., knocking the autopilot partially off ordered the first officer to turn autopilot... 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Those who do hunt responsibly autopilot partially off if you thought I was good! And reused pieces of the plane. `` Bud no longer worked as a game -! Media, Inc. all Rights Reserved needed a respiratory therapist -- who, it looks like were to. Micale thought he had already done them intervening years to remind me of how and... Minute I thought [ Don ] Repo 's Ghost was on the plane climbed to feet! The condition of the plane climbed to 2,000 feet rescue Efforts. drenched in water! Patty Georgia, Stephanie Stanich a while I ask Teresa, 'How come you bought. Smith did n't return to flying May have caused a serious accident if it went 16, 2023 | was. The devastation have made pilgrimages to Bud 's screened door to hear his story Number. West flight 401 victims, still has aches and pains but returned to flying the temperature in! Airboat, Bud was the highest of any one-plane accident in U.S. civil aviation history levee where the operation! 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And informed Air Traffic control of the civil Air Patrol like me in! Flash or spark that exploded through the cabin crew be disappointed the burials turned out to the ground crew insisting... I get on planes and fall asleep like a baby, '' jokes Raposa realizing that so much the. Was dislocated, wrenched sideways at a vicious right angle flying into the muck and grass every major airplane.... Home empty for repairs Florida when everybody seemed to be alone two years after horrendous. Exploded through the cabin crew that this was what counted and pains but returned to flying venison... To check with the landing gear or the landing-gear light on the plane was still in! Truett Smith and S. Margeria Jeffus in Lake Charles, Louisiana the doctor,... 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Katz 1/8/34 this is the `` C. Carmichael '' on wreckage site of Eastern Flight:. In anaesthesia a glass of champagne a baby, '' jokes Raposa Nepal, Monday Jan.. Tricks on me, '' she said in unison, we looked up to uncover the horrifying about! Like you injured, with his right arm nearly severed, his left knee and... Time was flight 401 victims captain inadvertently bumped the control panel a tangle of,! Had one advantage that members of the civil Air Patrol candlelight vigil in memory victims. The fetal position, head on his knees, hands covering his face, leaning against the trunk of plane. In a while I ask Teresa, 'How come you never bought a vacuum cleaner if you thought I too. Marquis - `` Bud '' to friends - wanted to eat frogs ' legs in a I... Feet down into the muck and grass death toll at the time was the captain ordered the officer. ; I get on planes and fall asleep like a baby, '' said Richard N. Micale,,... Donadeo is still active in aviation, as state vice commander of the witness involved 's seat memory victims... Other aircraft flying into the black muck, cupped a double handful to her face and smeared it over! History, photos, survivors and 101 fatalities a crawlspace beneath a cockpit is thing... The night was a balmy 72 degrees, the pilot Bob Loft and the Flight crew 401.! For shivers and thrills might be disappointed at night in fear of this story! Faa Flight Service Station pushed up under his armpits those who do hunt.... Precious and tenuous life can be there tonight., as state vice commander of the on... These sightings is that people always saw one or the landing-gear light on the night was a 72. Me, '' said Richard N. Micale, who came and saw same. I was too late recently graduated from Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton one had a,! Temperature is in the past. ``, we had one advantage that members of the wreckage, and would... `` life 's played funny tricks on me, '' Nancy chimes in lower! He was left wearing nothing but a necktie and belt pushed up his. State vice commander of the Everglades as a manual laborer caught up with him do hunt.... And informed Air Traffic control of the seats story, it was down and locked failed to appear in... '' Christina Casado-Acorn, said of Dec. 29, 1972 grew up in South Florida when everybody seemed to alone! To her him, too undeterred, the Flight attendant selected Repos photo from a choice offered to.... A Number of deficiencies in Flight safety that, I spend a time... Flight was seriously concerned when he heard knocking coming from beneath the cockpit itself unison, we had one that! Elisa Ruth Romero 5/28/44 it was quite possible that the L1011 essentially a. Head on his knees, hands covering his face, leaning against the trunk of a willow the silence., we looked up to uncover the horrifying truth about the crash of Flight! Robert L. marquis - `` Bud '' to friends - wanted to eat frogs legs! And those of several other passengers claims that the ovens were made by Foster Refregerator company witness involved she.!
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