[14], Over the following months and years, rumors began circulating that employees of Eastern Air Lines were reporting sightings of the dead crew members, captain Robert Loft and second officer (flight engineer) Donald Repo, sitting on board other L-1011 (N318EA) flights. Be the first one to, [New York] : Berkley Pub. The man was a hero that ended up saving dozens of lives. His flight crew included First Officer Albert John (Bert) Stockstill, 39, who had 5,800 hours of flying experience (with 306 of them in the L-1011), and Second Officer (flight engineer) Donald Louis (Don) Repo, 51, who had 15,700 hours of flying experience, with 53 of them in the L-1011. About 490 feet (150 m) from the wingtip's initial contact with the ground, the massive fuselage had begun to break up, scattering components from the underfloor galley, the cargo compartments, and the cabin interior. The flight was routine until 23:32 when the plane began its approach into Miami International Airport. Jeez you have far too much time on your hands. Skeptic Brian Dunning claims that the origin for the ghost sightings was a joke made by an Eastern Air Lines captain after an emergency landing in which he quipped that he "thought [Don] Repo’s ghost was on the plane."[22][24]. ... Ghost flight. The pilots and the flight engineer, two of 10 flight attendants, and 96 of 163 passengers died; 75 passengers and crew survived. http://flightsafety.org/aerosafety-world-magazine/past-issues, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdBAFYSsd1Q, “After Forgetting to Fly the Plane, their Ghosts Continued to Fly”. Although the majority of N310EA was destroyed, certain parts such as the galley were salvageable. Suddenly, there was a loud knocking coming from the ‘hell hole’.” For those who don't know, Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 crashed in the Florida Everglades in December 1972, killing 103 on board, including the cockpit crew and two of the flight attendants. adriana.g@archive.org The stewardess, Fay (or Faye) Merryweather is the first firm lead we’ve got. Download The Ghost Of Flight 401 or read The Ghost Of Flight 401 online books in PDF, EPUB and Mobi Format. And the cost is unbelievable on even the smallest parts for aircraft that big. Thus, the switching to CWS in channel A possibly did not occur in channel B, thus depriving the first officer of any indication the mode had changed (channel A provides the captain's instruments with data, while channel B provides the first officer's).[5]:13. The mood onboard flight 401 was upbeat. aired in February 1978. The disintegration of the aircraft that followed scattered wreckage over an area 1,600 ft (500 m) long and 330 ft (100 m) wide in a southwesterly direction. Salvaging parts from crashed aircraft, would practically be like robbing a corpse. It was quickly shut down before it caught fire and returned to the airport. Dad often talked about the firings. With the aircraft in mid-turn, the left wingtip cracked into piece against the surface first, it was followed by the left engine and the left landing gear. Stewardess Fay Merryweather was in the aft galley preparing the meals for the passengers. Date? By now the ghostly stories had been circulating round the company and the crew were reluctant to look. Shortly before midnight on December 29, 1972, the Lockheed L-1011-1 TriStar crashed into the Florida Everglades, causing 101 fatalities. This is why most Airlines go bankrupt and we have all seen this. Change ). The posts from people who write that they have known people who believe these stories to be true seem valid. Flight 401’s chain of problems began on the approach to Florida two hours after departure. If you are searching for a book by Martin Caidin Ghosts of the Air: True Stories of Aerial Hauntings in. How to Download The Ghost Of Flight 401: Press button "Download" or "Read Online" below and wait 20 seconds. Fuller describes anecdotes of paranormal happenings aboard other Eastern aircraft. So next time you’re sat on a plane and you feel a chill; before asking the cabin crew to turn the heating up take a look around, and if you see someone sat in a pilots uniform be sure to take a closer look. An original floor board from Flight 401 remains in the archives at History Miami in South Florida. These rumors speculated that parts of the crashed aircraft were salvaged after the investigation and refitted into other L-1011s. The account of the crash and its outcome was documented in John G. Fuller‘s 1976 book The Ghost of Flight 401. Although the airline had point blankly refused to believe the spooky stories, the sightings were all reported to the independent Flight Safety Foundation, who later commented “The reports were given by experienced and trustworthy pilots and crew. I saw a lady in my ho e in 1972. I don’t know if airline personnel were really seeing something or not. This is by far the most persuasive ghost story I have ever heard, and it makes no sense that employees of Estern Airlines would be making up stories about a crash that killed over 100 people. A few months later back at JFK, a crew boarding the same aircraft were surprised to see Loft already sat in the flight deck. It did not fly from ATlanta. "[5]:23–24, In response to the accident, many airlines started crew resource management training for their pilots. She looked a lot like my grandmothers photo who died in 1937. 50 seconds later the plane, once more nosedived, again, this time losing more than half its assigned altitude. There was nothing particularly memorable about the route, every pilot and flight crew in Eastern Air Lines had one time or another cut their teeth on that routine flight path. What airline would want passengers thinking that their aircraft were haunted by dead flight crew who perished on the pride of their fleet? They raced to rescue any survivors. Another lady summoned a crew member as she was concerned about the unresponsive pilot sat next to her. Great post, AND just what I was looking for…thanks. After lowering the landing gear, the First Officer saw that the indicator, a green light identifying that the nose gear was accurately secured in the “down” position, had not turned on. Officer Repo died the next day. The Captain claimed he distinctly heard the words…, “There will never be another crash on an L1011. Were they over the famed Bermuda Triangle? Not one to panic, she briskly went to get another stewardess and the aircrafts engineer to come and take a look. Several crew members were on the same wave length. Flight 401 departed JFK Airport in New York on Friday, December 29, 1972, at 21:20, with 163 passengers and 13 crew members on board. Believe in only what is true! Once you find one flaw in a story, other flaws quickly add up. Her book, My Search for the Ghost of Flight 401, was just as good as his and I read both with equal enthusiasm. Unexplained Mysteries and Strange Things, Cool Interesting stuff has been online since early 2011. Flashlights are now standard equipment near jumpseats, and all jumpseats are outfitted with shoulder harnesses. And based on what we’ve read thus far, that’d be like putting all our eggs in one basket on the back of a suicide bomber caught in the crosshairs of a trigger-happy US Apache helicopter pilot. 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.