Eastern Airlines Crash, 1972

In one of South Florida’s worst air disasters, Eastern Airlines Flight 401 from New York’s JFK Airport to Miami crashed on Dec. 29, 1972, in the Everglades after the crew became distracted by a burned out landing-gear light. The crash claimed the lives of 101 passengers and crew. There were 75 survivors, including a 23-year-old flight attendant who rallied them by singing Christmas carols as they waited for help.

Rushing to the Eastern Airlines Jetliner Crash

Sam Jacobs recounts covering the crash.

 

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12/30/1972, Bill Minor/Miami Herald Staff -- Night rescue scenes at crash site of Eastern Airlines Flight 401 in the Everglades.
12/30/1972, Bill Minor/Miami Herald Staff -- Night rescue scenes at crash site of Eastern Airlines Flight 401 in the Everglades.
12/30/1972, Bill Minor/Miami Herald Staff -- Night rescue scenes at crash site of Eastern Airlines Flight 401 in the Everglades.
12/30/1972, Bill Minor/Miami Herald Staff -- Night rescue scenes at crash site of Eastern Airlines Flight 401 in the Everglades.
12/30/1972, Bill Kuenzel/Miami Herald Staff -- Aerial view of crash site shows wreckage of Eastern's Flight 401 scattered over wide area; rescue vehicles in background at top.
12/30/1972, Bill Kuenzel/Miami Herald Staff -- Aerial view of crash site shows wreckage of Eastern's Flight 401 scattered over wide area; rescue vehicles in background at top.
1/4/1973, Jim Birmingham/Miami Herald Staff -- Demonstration of entry to the "Hell Hole" on a Lockheed TriStar L-1011 airliner through a hatch behind the flight engineer's seat. When the "nose gear" warning light malfunctioned on Eastern Airlines Flight 401, Flight Engineer Donald A. Repo went below to peer through a peep hole to make sure the front landing gear was in position for landing. In his absence, the pilot and co-pilot worked to fix the malfunctioning light, failing to notice the doomed airliner was loosing altitude in the darkness over the Everglades.
1/4/1973, Jim Birmingham/Miami Herald Staff -- View of the front landing gear, as seen through the peep hole inside the "hell hole" of a Lockheed TriStar airliner. When the "nose gear" warning light malfunctioned on Eastern Airlines Flight 401, Flight Engineer Donald A. Repo went below to peer through a peep hole to make sure the front landing gear was in position for landing. In his absence, the pilot and co-pilot worked to fix the malfunctioning light, failing to notice the doomed airliner was loosing altitude in the darkness over the Everglades.
1/4/1973, Jim Birmingham/Miami Herald Staff -- Close-up picture of the peep hole inside the "hell hole" of a Lockheed TriStar airliner. When the "nose gear" warning light malfunctioned on Eastern Airlines Flight 401, Flight Engineer Donald A. Repo went below to peer through the peep hole to make sure the front landing gear was in position for landing. In his absence, the pilot and co-pilot worked to fix the malfunctioning light, failing to notice the doomed airliner was loosing altitude in the darkness over the Everglades.
1/4/1973, Jim Birmingham/Miami Herald Staff -- Picture of the peep hole inside the "hell hole" of a Lockheed TriStar airliner. When the "nose gear" warning light malfunctioned on Eastern Airlines Flight 401, Flight Engineer Donald A. Repo went below to peer through the peep hole to make sure the front landing gear was in position for landing. In his absence, the pilot and co-pilot worked to fix the malfunctioning light, failing to notice the doomed airliner was loosing altitude in the darkness over the Everglades.
1/1/1973, Jim Birmingham/Miami Herald Staff -- Torn fuselage is all that remains of ill-fated Eastern Airlines Flight 401.
1/1/1973, Jim Birmingham/Miami Herald Staff -- Torn fuselage is all that remains of ill-fated Eastern Airlines Flight 401.

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