Ep 160: The Ghosts of Flight 401

Above photo from Wikipedia: ”Eastern Air Lines Lockheed L-1011 Tristar 1. N310EA (193A-1011) This TriStar crashed in the Florida Everglades on December 29, 1972.” Photo ©Jon Proctor use by GFDL 1.2

“Watch out for fire on this airplane.” 

– An apparition of just the head of 2nd Officer and Flight Engineer Don Repo, as seen and heard by two crew members on board another aircraft that would lose two engines to fire on its next flight.

Background:

At 9:20 p.m. on December 29, 1972, a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar commercial airliner, designated as Eastern Airlines Flight 401, departed John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York, bound for Miami, Florida. Onboard were 13 crew members and 163 passengers, 176 souls in all. It was a routine trip for Flight 401 until 11:32 p.m. when the plane began its approach to Miami International Airport, and an indicator light for the nose landing gear had not lit up. While the Flight Crew tried to troubleshoot the faulty indicator, the steering yoke was accidentally nudged, causing a function of the autopilot to begin a descent so gradually that no one had noticed. Ten minutes later, Flight 401 crashed into the Florida Everglades, killing five crew members and 96 passengers. It would be the first crash of a “Jumbo Jet” and have at the time, the highest number of fatalities from any one-plane accident in U.S. civil aviation history. But this tragic story doesn’t end there. A legend was born citing more than 20 accounts from EAL employees and passengers that they had interacted with the ghosts of Captain Bob Loft and Flight Engineer Don Repo who had perished in the crash. These stories mostly involved other Eastern Airlines L-1011s that had refitted parts salvaged from Flight 401. Whether out of guilt or an unstoppable sense of duty, these apparitions reportedly appeared to be quite lifelike and were trying to prevent further disasters. Although Eastern Airlines management vehemently denied these claims, due to the prevalence of these tales in the airline community, one must wonder if there is any truth to them. 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.

Eastern Air Lines Lockheed L-1011 TriStar 1. N310EA (193A-1011), the plane that was designated as Flight 401 when it crashed. Photo ©Jon Proctor used under GFDL 1.2

N310EA photographed in Kansas City

(L-R) Captain Robert Albin “Bob” Loft; Co-pilot/First Officer Albert John “Bert” Stockstill; Second Officer/Flight Engineer Donald Louis “Don” Repo

The Cabin Crew of Flight 401, photo taken earlier on the day of the crash while on the ground in Miami as Flight 26. Back Row L-R: Pat Ghyssels; Trudy Smith; Adrianne Hamilton; Mercy Ruiz. Front Row L-R: Sue Tebbs; Dottie Warnock; Beverly Raposa; Stephanie Stanich. Patty George is laying on the coat rack. Not pictured is Sharon Transue who took the photo.

Robert L. “Bud” Marquis, when he worked as a Game Warden in the Everglades.

Re-fitted aircraft parts from Flight 401 (N310EA) used on L-1011 N318EA

The Consolidated B-24D WWII bomber, the Lady Be Good

The crew of the Lady Be Good

 

Location:

Approximate location of the crash site for Flight 401, west-northwest of Miami, 18.7 miles (30.1 km) from the end of runway Nine Left (9L) at Miami International Airport, Miami, Florida

Reference Links:

• Website for the Official Eastern Airlines Flight 401 – History, Photos, Survivors, and Tribute

• Official website page with “Flight 401: RESCUE IN THE SWAMP – 35 Years after an Eastern Air Lines jet crashed into the Everglades, a rescuer looks back. By JEFF KLINKENBERG, Times Staff Writer”

• Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 on Wikipedia

• “Eastern Airlines 1972 Flight 401 Survivor Beverly Raposa Flight Attendant” interview on YouTube

• The Lockheed L-1011 TriStar

• Rolls-Royce RB211 engine used for the L-1011

• Description of the L-1011’s autopilot mechanism on the Airliners.net forum

• “ATA Airlines L1011-100 lower galley memories #1” on YouTube

• “ATA Airlines L1011-100 lower galley memories #2” on YouTube

• The National Transportation Safety Board’s Aircraft Accident Report

• Crew Resource Management

• Flight 401 from the This Day In Aviation website

• “Come Fly the Haunted Skies!” by Brent Swancer on MysteriousUniverse.org

• “A Halloween Tale: Kennedy Airport, Flight 401 and the Walking Dead” from the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey website blog, Portfolio

• Psychometry

• "The Ghosts That Followed Flight 401 " By J. Bennett on Ozy.com

• “Frog Gigging”

• Tampa Bay Times reporter Jeff Klinkenberg

• Former NASA astronaut and Chairman of Eastern Air Lines Frank Borman

• The Ghost of Flight 401, a 1978 made-for-TV movie – YouTube

• The Ghost of Flight 401 movie on IMDb

• Flight 401’s Cockpit Voice Recorder transcript from tailstrike.com

• “Grounding the Ghost of Flight 401” by Brian Dunning on his Skeptoid blog

• “Eastern Airlines Flight 401 Tribute Group Is Advised of Their Aircraft N310EA Flight Engineers "Engine Bleed" Control Panel Located In Germany”

• Retired Eastern Pilot’s Association blog mentioning the L-1011 #318 that had engine trouble in Mexico City

• The 1978 movie Crash, about Flight 401 with William Shatner

• The story of the B-24 WWII bomber “Lady Be Good” from the National Museum of the United States Air Force Museum website

• “GHOST BOMBER: THE LADY BE GOOD - Armstrong Circle Theatre, War Mysteries 21190” on YouTube

• “AVIATION ACCIDENTS & HUMAN PERCEPTION B-24 LADY BE GOOD " SIGNPOSTS ALOFT " 49534” on YouTube

• “Viewers Baffled By Ghost Passengers At Deserted Airport In Thailand” on YouTube

Related Books:

Crash

By Rob Elder, Sarah Elder

Buy on Amazon

The Ghost of Flight 401

By John G. Fuller

Buy on Amazon

My Search for the Ghost of Flight 401

By Elizabeth Fuller

Buy on Amazon

The Ghost of Flight 401

Starring TV Films

Buy on Amazon

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CREDITS:

Episode 160: The Ghosts of Flight 401.  Produced by Scott Philbrook & Forrest Burgess; Audio Editing by Sarah Vorhees Wendel and Zach Bair; Sound Design by Ryan McCullough; Tess Pfeifle, Producer and Lead Researcher; Research Support from the astonishing League of Astonishing Researchers, a.k.a. The Astonishing Research Corps, or "A.R.C." for short. Copyright 2019 Astonishing Legends Productions, LLC. All Rights Reserved.