flight 401 victimsnational mental health awareness

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. In 1985, his years as a manual laborer caught up with him. In the hospital, a nine-inch steel rod was inserted into the bone. 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. I saw young couples broken up. Burning jet fuel engulfed the aircraft as it plowed through the swamp. He also likes not to think about those days. Lockheed L-1011 Cockpit | Robert L. Marquis - "Bud" to friends - wanted to eat frogs' legs. Theyll find us eventually., Raposa had the survivors scoot together, sitting back to back so they could stay warm. 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 . Job Description. The pilot of this flight was so unnerved by all of this that he canceled the flight. A square green light on the control panel was supposed to signal that the wheel was in position. Give or take a word, the announcement is remembered verbatim by virtually every survivor. Discretion was the better part of valor. Ever the good Catholic, she crossed herself in the dark and silently prayed, Oh God, please let that be true.. Bob called Infantino, who loves to tell the story: "He was a regional coordinator with AFLAC, American Family Life Assurance Co., and that's when I started -- 16 years ago, and I've been with them ever since. Dunning, B. Paranormal phenomena and bizarre oddities. If you would like to contribute to this cause, donations can be made to: National Air Disaster Foundation (write "EAL 401 Memorial" on the check), You may also make donations by credit card on their website: www.PlaneSafe.org. It was rare for commercial airliners to fly westbound directly overhead Opa locka Airport at such a relatively low altitude. At the time, it was one of the worst civil aviation disasters the country had ever seen. It didn't light. ExpandAutoplay. Ruiz, 63, of West Miami-Dade, still has aches and pains but returned to flying until Eastern folded in 1991. A scene from the TV movie "The Crash of Flight 401" (1978), Eastern Airlines Flight 401: The Ghosts of Memories Past. Effectively, we turned the clubhouse into the European equivalent of a weekend pub. Captain Loft had been with the company for over 32 years; a total of 29,700 flight hours. Eugene Schenker 6/24/30 The company folded in 1991 and is perhaps still better known for some of the more compelling and credible paranormal encounters to date. The most accurate account of the crash of Flight 401 was authored by a journalist from the Miami Herald, Rob Elder. FSF. Source: Google Sites. Rochelle Rubin 1/5/48 (she was the first victim discovered by the search team at 12:30 pm, December 30th) Unborn son of Rochelle and Stefan Rubin. Good for me! There was an enormous flash of flame as two fuel tanks burst open. This killed the First Officer instantly. However, by the time the pilots realized their situation it was too late; flight 401 impacted the Everglades in a left turn and began to disintegrate, the wreckage being strewn over an area of 50 square kilometers. The 52-year-old flight engineer was one of 101 people who'd died Dec. 29, 1972 when Eastern Flight 401, packed with holiday travelers, slammed into the Everglades . "He's one of us," says John Canti, a firefighter, paramedic and outdoorsman. Lucille Cilles 1/30/24 The signal inside the cockpit had not illuminated as it should have. There was just one problem: Bob Loft had been dead for months. The wheels were down, locked in position for landing, but the pilot wasn't sure about the forward wheel under the plane's nose. The first time Walter Simonton saw the Everglades, the desolation overwhelmed him as he grieved for his mother, whose plane was swallowed up by the wetlands. Why dont we sing to help warm ourselves up? she suggested. The FAA guy sitting closest to Leonhard yelled, Holy shit!, An airboat doesnt have brakes, Leonhard explained. Documentary, Unscripted. "Grounding the Ghost of Flight 401." Flight 401 - Flight Log | He saw openings in the sawgrass created by sliding chunks of broken airplane. There were also other artifacts such as yellow airline life preservers and panes of plastic passenger windows. "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. Solomon Fisher 7/18/11 Mysterious Universe A Florida plane crash scene became even more disturbing when an alligator was spotted devouring the victim's body. In the 1970s, searching for images on Google did not yet exist. The crew members, however, were focused on fixing the wheel-light indicator. Later on during the flight though, problems with the engine all stemmed from a fire that no-one knew about. Fuller wrote that the airline was apparently trying to cover this up. We went deeper and deeper, until wed gone about 50 yards. Now take a sip. He likes to think about those days. Bud's heroics were featured prominently a few days later in the Miami Herald. Barry L. Mancuso 10/19/44 Flashlights became part of the standard equipment; flight attendants now have shoulder harnesses whether their seats face forward or backward; the acoustic alerts given to pilots to advise them of changes to the autopilot settings were dramatically improved; and the groundwork was laid for what later became the science of Cockpit Resource Management, which aims to minimize human error by codifying communication, leadership, and decision making in the cockpit. You don't want to be in the water with me.". 2017. Those pilots probably didn't even know there was a NOTAM prohibiting flight immediately above the crash site. Raposa, Beverly | Am I the only one left alive? he wondered. Wreckage from Eastern Airlines Flight 401 in the Everglades; Photography courtesy Ron Infantino, Buried up to his neck in freezing water and muck, completely naked except for the elastic rims of his socks, severely injured, shivering and in shock, Infantino feebly called into the night: Lilly, where are you? The captain and his first and second officers had every reason to feel good and confident about flying this particular ship. He died in Milford Hospital, Milford CT, in September 1973, though its difficult to know if it was as a result of his crash injuries. Those words guided Leonhard as his 14-foot patrol airboat bulldozed through dense walls of water-anchored grass. The single-engine Cessna 152 was . Interment will follow at 2pm at Florida National Cemetery. Leonhard discovered a hole in the bushes, roughly circular in shape and a little larger than the mouth of a culvert pipe. He was out that night on his airboat, gigging frogs with a new friend, Ray Dickens. Ethel L. Jackson 3/8/08 He had promised to show a slight acquaintance, Ray Dickinson, how to gig frogs. He lost interest in his job and just wanted to be alone. 17 Mar. To those who survived, the scene must have had an eerie end-of-the-earth feel, with wisps of gray mist swirling, a baby wailing, the groans from the injured and the dying. She was whipped. The flight attendant, Mercy Ruiz, was badly injured, with a broken pelvis and a severe laceration on her forehead. Flight 401s chain of problems began on the approach to Florida two hours after departure. Source: Pope Lick Monster the Killer Goatman of Kentucky, Joyce Vincents Unsettling Death That Went Undiscovered for 3 Years, These Real Creepy Audio Recordings Will Give You Nightmares, The Case of Teresita BasaHow a Ghost Solved a Murder. Two days later, Lilly Infantino was found trapped beneath one of the wings. They go deep into the heart of the Florida Everglades to contact the victims' ghosts and find out what really happened that fateful night in 1972. Sara Escobar 8/ 7/31 Then a sudden jolt rattled the aircraft. Michael Ann Kaminer 12/28/45 Definition: Here is something interesting that we discovered during our research. Charles Camichel 9/9/1899 (we assume this is the "C. Carmichael" on Eight minutes earlier, 401 had been descending on its landing approach after an uneventful flight from New York. That credo seems to be exemplified in every major airplane crash. 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. 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. It looked like someone had poured gasoline on a campfire, and poof, up it went. Curiously, Leonhard never heard the impact. . Bud waved his light until the helicopter took notice. Have You Met Fred the Tree? The disaster of this flight still remains as one of the worst in American aviation history. "Having money ruined my life," he said. I was then almost 26 years old and had recently graduated from Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. Then, on Saturday, December 29, a fleet of over 100 airboats carried survivors, their families and others to the crash site for a special memorial. Trudy Smith didn't return to flying. His foot pressed lightly against the accelerator pedal as he inched down the south levee on the L-28 canal with his headlights off. Bill, ironically, as well as being the proud owner of a pristine Cessna 180 was one of the helicopter pilots for the Metro-Dade police department. "He's an airboater.". I tried to keep hold of myself by showing up at work, but I couldn't concentrate.". Rons eyes blinked open upon hearing the engines roar to full power. , Elder, R. "Flight 401 Survivors, Years After the Crash and Memorial Efforts." A jumbo jet crashed in the Everglades north of the Tamiami Trial, his sergeant said. Flight Nurse jobs The lack of biting insects allowed him to roll the drivers window down to better listen for a shot fired from a poachers gun. He carried survivors to safety and made them as comfortable as he could. Abover right - Over 100 airboats participated in the evenet. "That's what really gets me. Suddenly, he stopped. 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. Knew about most accurate account of the worst civil aviation disasters the country had ever.... Firefighter, paramedic and outdoorsman Robert L. Marquis - `` bud '' to -... Were also other artifacts such as yellow airline life preservers and panes of plastic passenger windows weekend pub all this. 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