eastern air lines flight 401 survivors

"You couldn't even say goodbye to each . Its a bad dream. Its closure; its been a long time coming, she said. . 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?" Flight attendants Mercedes Ruiz and Patricia McQuigg were working at the rear of the aircraft. 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. Sharon and Adrienne were injured and trapped in their jump seats. Local 10: Eastern Flight 401: A survivor's story; Flamingo Magazine: Flight 401 Down in the Glades; Read the Story! ", - Beverly, Flight attendant on Flight 401. From there a series of seemingly small mistakes and oversights led to the epic crash. If you can hear my voice, dont light a match, flight attendant Beverly Raposa called out as she regained consciousness in the darkness. 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. In the hospital, Infantino barely survived. Then he noticed that the pilot did a fly-by the airport. The crash killed 101 people, including Stanich. "It was so cold I can't describe it.". The crash of Eastern Airlines Flight 401, along with other major air disasters around the same time, eventually led to a number of aircraft safety enhancements, including crew resource management, which has procedures for decision making in cockpits to try to eliminate human error. Contact: brent@airwaysmag.com, 2022 Airways Publishing, LLC. READ MORE: There was another tragedy in Miami after Eastern Flight 401. They were exhausted. Infantino and other survivors have for years tried to create one but have been unable to raise the money needed to build it. 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A lack of flashlights amid the poor nighttime visibility in the Everglades impeded the ability of survivors to assist each other. MiamiSprings.com is the #1 source for news and events for the Miami Springs and Virginia Gardens community. She was dazed and disoriented but noticed a penlight flashing nearby. . I said, 'I know what you're going through because I lost somebody too.' Raposa explained that over many years, we worked, trying to put something together, emphasizing the development of a tribute for Flight 401. Beverly Raposa was a bubbly, 25-year-old flight attendant onboard Eastern Airlines Flight 401 from New York to Miami when the plane slammed into the Everglades at 225 miles per hour near midnight . On returning to the galley, another flight attendant saw an engineer fixing the oven. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. "We did something to the altitude," he said. Beverly replied, 'No Mercy, we're down.' Beverly remembers when the flight went down. The pilots engaged the autopilot so they could inspect the light and the landing gear but the darkness apparently made it hard to see. On December 29, 1972, Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 crashes into the Florida Everglades, resulting in 101 fatalities. The aircraft was a Lockheed L-1011-1 TriStar traveling from New York to Miami. Survivors - Crew and Eastern Employees. The monument, Ruiz said, represents the thoughts, the prayers, and all the efforts involved in refusing to forget each and every one of the victims. The names of each person who perished on Flight 401 will be engraved on the granite monument. 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. Her face was burnt, but the coolness of the swamp seemed a relief. 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. He turned it down. An aircraft crashes in the Florida Everglades, killing 103 passengers. "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. Raposa, 25, had noticed something strange. 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. Hjs wife was not with him. But now, they still have to survive in the vast darkness of the gator infested Everglades. Eastern Airlines Flight 401 crashed into the Everglades on a moonless night on December 29, 1972. A group of survivors drafted plans for a marker, but life got in the way. He had bad sawgrass cuts all over his face. She encouraged them to sing Christmas carols . In November 2022, Airways interviewed former flight attendants Beverly Raposa and Mercy Ruiz to understand their perspectives as survivors of the crash. "They'll never be forgotten.". I carry those folks in my heart every single day, Raposa said of those who died in the tragedy. Get the latest aviation news straight to your inbox: Sign up for our newsletters today. Eastern Airlines, mistakenly believing they . She, too, couldnt move because of a fractured pelvic bone. "What saved my life was chute on that dooractually on impact it inflated, she recalled. And those survivors were in the pitch black darkness of the Everglades. Looking back, Ruiz, now 78, who worked at Eastern until the company stopped flying in 1991, sees signs in the events of Dec. 29, 1972. Here today, we hope that everyone, myself included, will find peace with this memorial monument.. He has a masters degree in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin and a bachelors degree in education from the Universidad de Puerto Rico en Ro Piedras. I put the sweater around me under the water. said Stockstill. The aircraft was delivered to Eastern Air Lines on 30 January 1969. There were 75 at the time, 20 years ago tonight. "You will never be forgotten. Crash: Directed by Barry Shear. I know how much you miss me, and I miss you too. The sound, a huge fireball that went through the cabin," she recalled. The disaster took the lives First published on December 29, 2022 / 4:03 PM. Her message on life: Never take anything for granted. According to DeWitt, the monument also represents how through a terrible tragedy in Flight 401, the industry eventually put safety first in many ways.. The aircraft was a five-year-old McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31 registered as N8984E. Fundraising was a challenge, but Raposa said radio appearances and the support of former Eastern Air Lines employees bolstered efforts. But a light didnt confirm whether the landing gear was down. Dedication of a Memorial Monument for the 50th Anniversary of Eastern Flight 401. The Story Of Eastern Air Lines Flight 401, took a look at the eight most intriguing examples. Eastern Airlines Flight 401 - Crash Investigation, Findings and Passenger List . Almost 40 years ago, Eastern Airlines flight 401 crashed. Eastern Airlines Flight 401. He read a poem in her honor from her perspective as if she were speaking to him from the heavens above. Patricia commented on the fact that it was the holiday season and maybe they'd earn some overtime. Only nine smiling faces appear because one volunteered to take the photo. Afterward, folks hope to take the old man into the . Airboats represent a certain degree of sentimental value for survivors of Flight 401. He heard alligators and snakes splash around him as whirring airboats and helicopters searched for survivors. 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. "They're home," Beverly said. We get so tied up in the mundane things in life, the small stuff, we waste all our energies on that instead of concentrating on the major things. Were gonna wake up.. Raposa was one of 75 survivors. 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. I say, 'Calm down, Ron, what number is this? And then it was complete silence and I thought I was the only one alive.". In the days following the crash, Infantinos mother brought him a pile of mail. There were also reports of Bob having been seen doing his pre-flight checks of the aircraft and telling the ground staff he'd already completed them. The flight crew had not realized that the autopilot had been accidentally switched off and the aircraft was descending. Shelley and Steve Rubin and their unborn baby boy - Sandy Shapiro December 30, 2020 . She found Beverly and commented 'it's a bad dream, we are going to wake up.' gadunham@aol.com. She heard the cries of people and shouted, 'Follow my voice, I am a flight attendant' so that any surviving passengers could find her. 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. "It felt so good. Beverly saw a sea of colors before being knocked out. Edit. The Ghost of Flight 401: Directed by Steven Hilliard Stern. The plane descended out of the sky as pilots were distracted over a landing gear warning light. Pieces of the aircraft scattered across the sawgrass. She woke in darkness, still in her jump seat hanging to one side, choking on the acrid jet fuel fumes. Eventually, all of the salvaged parts were removed from aircraft, and neither Bob nor Don were ever seen again. He spends most of his vacations in Miami. On the night of December 29th, 1972, he was a passenger on Eastern Airlines Flight 401 from New York to Miami. Was it a burned-out $12 bulb or a faulty landing gear? To the flight 401 survivors - Franoise Riette December 30, 2020, 5:02 pm. In the 1970's, tales of such ghostly apparitions flew around the USA and the airline world. "The reports were given by experienced and trustworthy pilots and crew. Now the names are there and they will never be forgotten, Ruiz said. Patricia McQuigg, Beverly Raposa, and Mercy Ruiz joined Infantino this week at a program to teach airline experts and passengers the lessons learned from a dark night in the Everglades. The jumbo jet had been making a late evening flight from New York to Miami. Beverly Raposa a survior of Eastern Flight 401 29th December 1972 crash of an L-1011, tail number N310EA explains her experience "It was beautiful," said Infantino said of the jet. On Dec. 29, theyll unveil a memorial in Miami Springs to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Eastern crash. Chapter 4 - Flight 401 Passenger List. The left wing tip hit first. The next, he was covered in water up to his chin. 101 out of the 176 occupants onboard the aircraft perished. Eastern Air Lines L-1011 Tristar Airbus, on NYC-Miami flight with 177 persons aboard, crashes into Everglades on Dec 30 while on landing approach to Miami Internatl Airport; early repts indicate . Beverly also injured her back and cut her foot but managed to crawl out of the swamp. Definition: Here is something interesting that we discovered during our research. In the hospital he learned just how bad off he was. 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. While in the cockpit one day, preparing for the flight, another pilot heard loud knocks from under the floor beneath him. The plane plunged into the Everglades after taking off from the Miami airport. The flight started in New York. Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 was a regularly scheduled flight between Charleston, South Carolina and Chicago Illinois with a stop at Charlotte, North Carolina. She came back and said, Mercy, I cant. She couldnt see.. And then she started walking away, trying to help people. Today's story is one of tragedy, of course, but it's also one of heroism and bravery. He reportedly then said, "Watch out for fire in this plane.". The survivors were taken to a narrow levee where helicopters took them to hospitals. 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. "Brand new, spacious, the seating was gorgeous, there was a beautiful lounge in the back.". 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. 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. 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 . Copyright - Florida Web Marketing, Inc. Nestor Suarez is the Publisher of MiamiSprings.com since 1997. Bob Loft decided to try to troubleshoot and fix the light before landing and put the plane on autopilot. Mysteriously, the log books started to go missing from the aircraft. From this accident, crew resource management was brought into pilot and cabin crew training to improve communication onboard. But today, for Infantino, is about Lilly and the other lost lives. This is somewhere where I can come to visit her apart from her gravesite, Shackleford said. Beverly Raposa switched seats from her regular position in the galley for a flight from New York to Miami. "He said they found Lilly's body," he said. Aircraft and crew The aircraft involved was a five-year-old McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31 registered as N8984E, which was delivered to Eastern Airlines on January 30, 1969. In his first public comments since his highly publicized move from Atlanta United, Martinez told the Herald that his girlfriend, two-month-old son, and more than half his friends live in Doral. A short time later, the plane was cleared to turn back to MIA and that's when a crewmember noticed something was amiss. Raposa said a turning point came when supporter Shannon DeWitt offered to help coordinate fundraising and construction efforts for a monument, a pivot from the original idea of a tribute. 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