The Ghost of Flight 401
N310EA, the aircraft involved in the accident, photographed in St. Louis just weeks before the crash
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| Accident summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | December 29, 1972 |
| Summary |
Pilot error; controlled flight into terrain |
| Site |
Florida Everglades Miami-Dade County, Florida United States 25°51′53″N 80°35′43″W / 25.86472°N 80.59528°WCoordinates: 25°51′53″N 80°35′43″W / 25.86472°N 80.59528°W |
| Passengers | 163 |
| Crew | 13 |
| Fatalities | 101 |
| Injuries (non-fatal) | 75 |
| Survivors | 75 (77 initially) |
| Aircraft type | Lockheed L-1011-385-1 TriStar |
| Operator | Eastern Air Lines |
| Registration | N310EA |
| Flight origin | John F. Kennedy Int'l Airport |
| Destination | Miami International Airport |
Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 was a Lockheed L-1011-1 Tristar jet that crashed into the Florida Everglades at 11:42 pm December 29, 1972, causing 101 fatalities (99 initial crash fatalities, two died shortly afterward). The captain, along with one of two flight crew members, two of 10 flight attendants, and 97 of 163 passengers, died; 75 passengers and crew survived. The crash occurred as a result of the entire flight crew becoming preoccupied with a burnt-out landing gear indicator light, and failing to notice the autopilot had inadvertently been disconnected. As a result, while the flight crew was distracted with the indicator problem, the aircraft gradually lost altitude and crashed. It was the first crash of a widebody aircraft and at the time, the second-deadliest single-aircraft disaster in the United States.
Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 was a regularly scheduled flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York, to Miami International Airport in Miami, Florida. On the day of the crash, Flight 401 was operated using a four-month-old Lockheed L-1011-1 TriStar (registration N310EA,), which had been delivered to the airline on August 18, 1972. The aircraft was number 310 in Eastern's fleet, and the tenth Tristar delivered to the carrier.
The flight was under the command of Captain Robert Albin 'Bob' Loft, 55, a veteran pilot ranked 50th in seniority at Eastern. Captain Loft had been with the airline for 32 years and had accumulated a total of 29,700 flight hours throughout his flying career. He had logged 280 hours in the L-1011. His flight crew included First Officer Albert John Stockstill, 39, who had 5,800 hours of flying experience, and Second Officer (flight engineer) Donald Louis 'Don' Repo, 51, who had 15,700 hours of flying experience. A company employee—technical officer, Angelo Donadeo, 47, returning to Miami from an assignment in New York—accompanied the flight crew for the journey, but was officially an off-duty "non-revenue passenger".
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