I have been watching a LOT of these videos. When its a Boeing, Lockheed or Airbus. Well designed, well engineered and well built aircraft. When it is a McDonnell Douglas MD-9/MD/10/MD11....look out below. Poorly designed & poorly built aircraft. No wonder Boeing ended up buying them...
I remember when I was 14 years old I went to my sister’s place of work for a ride home. My sister was a beautician and she was cutting the hair of a woman that was a passenger in this awful crash. I was going to school to become an Aircraft Mechanic. My school was Aviation High School. As soon as she saw the books that I was carrying and learned what school I went to, she proceeded to tell me about the crash. Obviously the video mentions the pilots errors, but it obviously does not mention the search and rescue aspect of the crash. The survivors spent a very long time in the swamp while they were searched for, with all kinds of Vernon around. This particular lady that survived swallowed a lot of water and dirt. She sustained many injuries and was forced to walk with a cane for the rest of her life. She told me that she would never fly again. She told me that during the landing she was starting to dose off when the aircraft hit. The aircraft came apart and she was thrown out into the swampy water. She woke up in the hospital and spent years of therapy for her recovery. When I met her, 6 years had passed, but you could still see the pain that she was going through. I believe that meeting this lady made me a better Aircraft Mechanic. When you see the damage that you can do by not following procedures, it is a real eye opening. RIP to those that died in this crash and I hope that those that survived made a full recovery.
Awesome story, what a inspirational gift you happened upon. This world works in so many mysterious ways. I wish you the best in life and with your job!
Persian Gammon I have no idea who you are or what your intentions are. I can only surmise that you are confusing me with someone else or you are trying to make fun of a tragic event. The truthful story that I told was for the benefit of the persons that enjoy these videos, such as myself. If you don’t like what you read, you are 1 click away from reading or watching something else. Have a nice life.
Worked with a guy in 1978 that was a survivor of this crash. He said it was an instant jolt then he woke in his seat sitting in water, fire all around him. The jolt knocked his shoes off but even with that he unbuckled, ran through the flames and managed to get onto dry ground. When you saw him, he looked fine but he was burned from his elbows up, chest, back, his legs were ok as well as mid section. He said it was horrible, the treatment that is, took two years in the hospital. Of course Eastern paid it all and he was getting very healthy checks from the settlement. Once the money came in he went nuts with it, left the job, an I never saw him again. We had become friends but like anything I moved on to a new job as well and we lost contact. God bless him if he's still around an if not hopefully God had mercy on his soul. He always said the money wasn't worth the torment.
ATC failed here as well. "Oh it's nothing" Never mind they're at 900 feet and descending. Bet that guy neat himself up over that blunder. Simple as "Eastern 401, check your altitude" would have avoided this crash.
@A talking plane Exactly. Crazy, can't even imagine what the passengers were feeling. Especially those that frequent the route and know the usual landmarks on approach. Seeing the ground get closer but not seeing the airport.
My uncle was career RCAF and after he retired, he was a crash inspector for Transport Canada and the RCAF. One of the last thing I heard him say was, "You know why aircraft crash? Because nobody read the manual and nobody was flying the airplane."
I was working as a licensed aircraft mechanic for EA at Newark Airport on the midnight shift after the crash of 401 in 1972. There was an L-1011 parked at the gate one night and while on my lunch break around 3am I decided to venture inside. I had heard about the "ghost" sightings and was curious (and a little apprehensive). The ghost was supposed to be seen most often in the galley so I took the elevator down there to look around... I saw nothing.... Still a little spooky though.... I frequently worked on the L-1011 many nights after that and never saw anything unusual.
yours probably did not have any salvaged parts from 401- eastern ordered them removed from all planes they got scattered to.. A seauce was held at a home to let the spirits go... a fellow pilot friend of bob loft..
I remember this. Eastern Airlines mechanics had set the steering columns with different pressures to release the autopilot. When the pilot bent over to dink with the lamp, he put just enough pressure on the steering column to disengage the autopilot. Cockpit resource management was not in place at that time. There was no-one designated to fly that wonderful Lockheed L-1011. No one was monitoring the altitude. As the plane slowly descended as it was going south, west of Miami International Airport, the left wing hit the ground as the plane turned east and the rest was awful. I remember one survivor had all four limbs removed (the Florida Everglades is a microbe rich environment) before he died. The autopsy on the pilot revealed a brain tumor. Regardless, cockpit resource management would have prevented this horrible tragedy.
The Ghost of Flight 401 had an all star crew. Captain, Russell Johnson (professor, Gilligan's island) First officer, Howard Hessman (WKRP in Cincinatti) & Flight Engineer, Ernest Borgnine (McHale's Navy).
OH boy when I first watched that movie I was SOO surprised to Russel Johnson in it as Capt. Loft! I thought to myself “Wait a minute- Is that the professor!?”
If it wasn’t so tragic this would be funny. 4 flight officers - all well trained- fixated on a light bulb. Seems like one of them would have thought to watch the rest of the plane. RIP
Unfortunately that was the procedure for the time in aircraft equipped with autopilot. No one considered that the pilots could accidentally disengage the autopilot. In hindsight, of course this is stupid. However, at the time, there is a new technology capable of the fairly mundane task of maintaining straight and level flight with no input from the pilots. So at the time, whenever there was a fault or issue in the cockpit, the procedure was to engage the autopilot and focus on fixing the problem. This crash taught us the autopilot is not perfect and so modern CRM was invented...which has saved millions of lives since.
Ummm...you realize that is Rule 1 as a result of this crash, right? All of the principles of CRM that ensure that one is always flying were instituted as a result of this crash.
I should clarify. The cockpit procedure prior to this accident for modern wide body aircraft was as follows: Step #1: Set the autopilot with altitude and heading. Step #2: Pull out appropriate checklists and work through the problem. Step #3: Once the problem is resolved, return to flying the aircraft. No one thought about pilots accidentally disengaging the autopilot, so it was thought to just let the plane fly itself in order for the pilots to focus on resolving the problem.
Scott1433 I was incorrect. It was Portland, 1978. The crew was focused on the landing gear light. One of them could/should have walked to the back, under a seat a panel, and confirmed gear down. How sad!
I grew up in Miami in the 70s and my dad worked for EAL at MIA. This crash was tough on the Eastern family of employees -- because it never should have happened. RIP to those that perished.
No he crashed because of poor situational awareness. The cockpit crew relied too much on technology and not enough on training and human senses while obsessing over a supposed technical issue. This was one of the most avoidable mainline air crashes ever. No bad weather, no mechanical failure, nothing adverse inside or out, except for the deficient organic controller behind the stick.
@@MichaelSheehy75 Easy to be critical of past events this was 1970s CRM didnt exist. Plus no autopilot disconnect warning in pitch. Now all the pilots think they cool because they have EGPWS TCAS Glass cockpit and lots of other shit because of crashes just like this. So calm the fuck down
I can remember reading a book about the ghosts of flight 401 when I was a kid. Also, it's interesting comparing this disaster to the crash of United Flight 173 six years later in Portland Oregon. Some similarities in the breakdown of concentration and proper communication in the cockpit, as well as similar effects of both crashes on the industry at large, namely the implantation of Cockpit Resource Management.
THE classic case of flying while distracted. Academy Award winner Ernest Borgnine played the flight engineer in the ABC-TV movie "The Ghost of Flight 401."
Ernie nearly caused Ethel Merman to die...when they were married back in the 60s he would release toxic poots in bed and hold the bedsheets over her head and he called that operation the :Dutch Oven" maybe that s why the marriage only lasted 3 weeks.
I will never forget this incident. My father worked for Eastern at the time and I was in New York with my sister visiting. We were supposed to be on that flight but missed it and decided to fly home the next day. We heard about the crash the next morning.
I have read the full cockpit transcript of this accident. If you haven't read it, you should. It shows how the flight crew ignored the basics of flying an aircraft, relied on someone else to own it and put too much confidence in the "brand new" aircraft and its technology. The read of the transcript has stuck with me and I learned from it. Not as a pilot but in day to day life. Following a process, make fact based decisions and question everything.
This crash happened just two miles from where Valujet 592 went down in 1996. An unsung hero here was Bob Marquis, the man with the air boat who witnessed the flight 401 crash and helped rescue people. He died in (I think) 2008 still loved and remembered by those he helped save. He still had his air boat and a few years before that they got together and had it restored for him.
This was, as was pointed out, before the days of CRM (Cockpit Resource Management). The rule now is the Pilot Flying (PF) flies and the Pilot Not Flying (PNF) pulls out the Flight Manual and starts trouble shooting. If he can't perform a step without help then call maintenance. If they can't help declare an emergency, if necessary, and land. The PF does not take his attention off the job of flying. It works much better than this horrible example, which was all too common back in the day.
This one, Saudia 162, Delta 191: all of the three major incidents in whose a "ten-eleven" was involved are at least in part the crewmembers' fault. On one side, this is a testament of how much reliable and advanced this plane was. On the other hand, it was probably too much for its time and pilots came to excesses of confidence. Still, it's sad it has had such a little commercial succes, and a bitter irony it has fallen to the first hull-loss crash of a widebody.
One of the strangest days/nights I have ever flown. I am serious, not kidding. I saw that plane leave that evening. I was flying Delta to Houston via one stop in New Orleans. Eastern was at the terminal across the paddock. On the flight to New Orleans (in First Class), I kept waking from a nightmare in which my plane was crashing. First in the air, second one as we were on approach to New Orleans airport (that one shook me up), then on the ground before boarding to Houston. I did not go back to sleep after that. My friend picked me up at the airport in Houston (early morning). I told him about the nightmares and he tells me that a plane had gone in the Everglades. Not kidding. Never happened again ..... thank God.
Outstanding video, thank you. I was 6 when this happened. I vaguely remember it. I flew Eastern, from Philly to Tampa with my Mom all throughout the early to mid '70's. That was the only airline she liked!
My father was supposed to be flying this flight, but the first officer wanted to get home earlier, so my father swapped flights with him. My father was in a hotel in NYC when he got the news of the crash. I remember watching the TV with my mother and sisters when the news flash said that Eastern had an L-1011 crash on its way to Miami. My mother jumped up and ran into the kitchen to check the flight number and screamed out loud as it was the flight he was supposed to be flying, FLT 401. Shortly after the news flash, my father called to say he was OK, and said that he had fallen asleep before calling home to say he would be flying home on another flight. My father struggled with his guilt and emotions over this accident for many years to come. He lost 2 of his best friends, Capt Loft and Flight Engineer Repo. My father retired in 1986 before Frank Lorenzo took over.
Today I found out that I had cousins flying with their baby and both of them died and my cousin survived the crash I saw picture today of him and my eyes were watery because looking at him I saw my baby boy in that picture he was as old as him back then
RIP to all those that were lost, and to Ms Patricia Renee Shackelford and her unborn child who died in this awful disaster. My mother said she meet you in a department store in NYC.
My father was an Eastern Captain and happened to be deadheading on the plane behind 401. We thought he was on 401 and had lost him. My father knew Captain Loft and said he was a real hard ass and autocratic - Stockstill noticed something wrong with the altitude and instead of taking over turned to Loft and said, we done something to the altitude, we are still at 3,000 feet, right? That was 7 full seconds before impact, plenty of time to pull up -He just have seen the altimeter near zero. I suspect, and its just conjecture on my part, that the FO did not want to take action on his own, maybe because he was intimidated? They have since trained all pilots to be vigilant and use teamwork and not just rely on one authoritative captain, which had been prevalent in aviation from early times. I hate to criticize two dead crew members, but the facts seem to point that way? We seem to have learned from it. Very sad.
Sad story, I've seen this on TV years ago. But this is an excellent video. when I read Frank Borman's name my blood boiled. He destroyed a great airline.
I think a lot of the commenters that are criticizing the pilots are time warping and being a little unfair. Many of the modern safety protocols and features that would have prevented this accident weren't in place or weren't available to them.
@@empireoflizards exactly what's wrong in case of almost all the Airbus crashes - too much dependence on technology and not enough skill to compensate when it fails.
The plane failed in that it had a burnt out light, but the pilots ARE TO BLAME for losing sight of their priorities. If you do not blame the pilots then what caused the crash?
While visiting Ecuador in the 70’s, I remember seeing the AeroPeru Tristar at the Guayaquil International Airport. RIP to the souls lost in the crash. Sad result for a faulty light
One of your better videos. I like the fact that you actually showed the crash. As for the ghost sighting...that is very possible given the tragic circumstances.
Was a nuclear control room operator / senior operator / watch engineer / assistant plant supervisor / plant supervisor over a 23 year period. The very first thing we did when relieving the watch in the control room was test every annunciator (alarm) and control panel light in the control room. We had a button combination that lit everything up. I don't understand why this wasn't standard procedure on a check list somewhere.
they tested the lights(Christmas tree test), the nose gear light never lit up. I guess with something as important as landing gear they wanted to double check the double check. Sad tragedy in hindsight.
@@yardfowl3149 One questions then - why did they take off with malfunctioning landing gear indications. It would seem to me that would be pretty important.
@@cgirl111 I can not answer that question. I do not know if the light test was done prior to operating or only after the malfunction was noticed. I do agree that a simple light test prior to operation could have possibly prevented this. However It is possible that the test was run prior to operating and the bulb failed at some point after the initial test? I really do not know. Th
@@cgirl111 They would not have taken off with a failed gear indicator. It must have failed in flight. The gear lights are extinguished when the gear is retracted (from just after takeoff until shortly before landing) so this malfunction would not be noticed until the gear was extended for landing.
My neighbor survived the crash, but was never the same. She had racing dogs in Miami. Married to a mobster, the racing was totally a fixed profit making venture. She was obnoxious after she was portrayed in the movie.
It feels like no matter how highly experienced the pilots are, even if there was a flight and the pilots had more than 10,000 flying hours and more than 1,000 hours in the aircraft type, there can still be a crash caused by pilot error.
You might be interested in the talk "we are doing a great work and cannot come down" by Dieter F Uchtdorf, a former Lufthansa pilot. Even if you aren't religious, it's still a good talk on keeping important stuff prioritized
Because the plane went down in the Everglades, the Air Force was called in to help locate the wreckage, by using the sophisticated sensors on an AC-130 Gunship.
It was quite anxiety provoking. Despite knowing the outcome in these, I always hope for some miraculous change in the storyline where they do not crash and everyone survives. Wishful thinking.
I heard that the co pilots instrumentation panel including the altimeter still indicated the auto pilot settings even after the captain nudged the column. As far as the co pilot was concerned they were still at 2000 feet.
Eastern Airlines sure had an extensive record of fatal crashes and incidents. I flew on board several times as a kid- even got some wings and other swag. Glad all my flights made it OK. RIP to all the victims of aircrashes everywhere. It's still, and now more than ever, the safest mode of transportation.
Fun fact-In 1978, a television movie was made about this incident "The Ghost of Flight 401". It starred Ernest Borgnine in the title role as the Captain, Russell Johnson as the Second Officer and Kim Basinger as one of the two flight attendants who survived the crash. I watched it online and would highly recommend it!
The ghost of FO Repo is real. Did you know that is is standard policy now that planes that crash and result in death (and a totaled airplane ) are scrapped. They do not install those parts on other planes. FO Repo warned a flight attendant about a fire. There was no fire on that flight, but her next flight there was a really bad oven fire.
There is a book named 'The Ghosts of Flight 401' by John Fuller. It's an interesting read, even if you don't believe in ghosts. It goes into a lot of detail about the crew and the crash, so its also a great account of the crash.
Oh, I remember watching this before. Great video, may I suggest another item of interest? Hopefully you have time to make "Air India: Explosive Evidence" Once again, I hope you continue making videos, they are very high quality in all standards. :)
R J I still have Eastern timetables,,and many freight shipping forms, I flew with EASTERN more than ANY other airline ,,I got to know many cabin crew & Cockpit crew& walked the picket line @ EWR, those days were good prior to the strike . Cheers from NJ
Leighton Samms Thanks for the reply. I forgot all about the “timetables” that airlines used to have available. I used to really enjoy flying “back in the day” when the flight itself was just as exciting as the destination itself. One of my favorite memories was on the Continental Airlines “Pub” flights. Their DC-10 configuration had a “lounge area” in the center of the aircraft...pretty classy to say the least. Greetings from Sacramento, Ca.
I don’t understand how they crashed? Because the captain wasn’t paying attention to the altitude? Is that right?He thought the auto pilot was on and didn’t know they were descending?
The Captain should've just landed the plane to begin with. Whether the nose gear is down or not, the aircraft still has to land. Nose gear failures are typically survivable.
Hindsight is 20/20. Imagine being in the cockpit and not knowing. That's a highly risky move. They did the right thing by trying to verify, however, they only tried to verify and forgot to fly the damn thing.
@@AmyAnnLand They didn't try to verify. They were too busy trying to get a light bulb to work! If they had skipped the light bulb, they could have easily verified that the gear was down and that they could land the plane. They could literally just ask someone to look up and tell them if the gear is down. And still land with the assumption that it is not, just in case the gear is faulty.
Easiest thing to do since they were in pattern for landing was fly by over the runway and have tower and other planes on ground check the nose gear then just got back into the pattern and landed, just simply execute a go around
My uncle was on the National Airline that went down in 1960? It went from NYC to MIAMI but exploded over Bolivia, NC. Do you have any recreations of that crash
Ateltoni34 and LOCKHEED said THEY WILL NEVER EVER MAKE A COMMERCIAL AIRLINER AGAIN , they actually LOST MONEY on their L1011., never made their quota, sad to see such an advanced plane like it again. Cheers from NJ
Sadly, no, they are not made any longer. Despite this crash, the L-1011 had one of the best (if not THE best) safety record of all aircraft ever made....
A Very Sad Day. My husbands Uncle (50 years a multi aircraft certified pilot, flight instructor, safety consultant, mechanic, you name it) always knew via his expert knowledge within 48 hrs. what actually happened in any given aircraft disaster. This one he could not bring himself to except until final reports were filed. And those ghost stories ? He wasn't about to call any of those professionals, some of whom he knew and worked with, willing to risk their jobs by talking about their experiences, liars or nut cases. After all, he and his fellow pilots were still keeping their own records and council over UFO's for pretty much the same reason..
So four pilots, none of them is flying the plane. They're all preoccupied with fixing a light bulb when all gears were down and locked so they coulda landed. So many ironies here
The ambient lighting within the cabin should change to indicate when the autopilot is in control of the plane. A simply hue shift (say, towards the blue or red spectrum) would eliminate the possibility of this pilot error from ever happening again.
Love the new format. I remember that crash.Eastern Airlines slogan The wings of man. They were the official airlines for Disney World.I loved the L1011 second only too the 747 the one they always called the Mother,.What ever happened to Reno airlines? When i lived in San Diego the planes came in so low you could almost touch them. And you always heard the wind vortex swishing around you.
Tickle Fingers at the time it was to be designed, the need was for a large plane which HAD to Land & Take Off FROM LGA, for the most lucrative NY - MIA ROUTE, but that plane was so far advanced, it could actually get the plant to the aPROPER GATE., unfortunalately sales were dismal, an resorted to bribe foreign carriers to but their plane, so after NOT reaching its planned quota, the plane was terminated , I may also add , that the design & completion of its engines BANCRUPTED ROLLS ROYCE, but it was done, and so the RB211 engine has been the most popular engine it still makes, several versions are being used TODAY., NOW BMW owns RR, and so it goes, Cheers from NJ
Thanks for this video Allec! Just an idea but I know you have a lot on your plate lately but maybe a new series could be; "Air Incidents". And an upload which would suit this is Air Incidents - Phantom Flaw (Orenair Flight 9542)
A 49 cent part and an oblivious crew was responsible for over 100 deaths. Should never have happened. And the nitwit controller is also party to blame. "Eastern, 401, check your altitude."
Wade Gustafson of Gustafson Motors you don’t know how well they were taught English; if at all or if it was autodidact. I would like to see you do Russian. I know, different alphabet system but once you learn that, you can learn the rest. I’ll ask you in 1,5y to write what this guy meant in perfect Russian. Or to make it easier, a year with a language with our alphabet but completely different from English. Say, learn the language of Bangladesh from scratch and all by yourself. See you next year, we’ll find out howbyiuvdid. English being spoken worldwide has nothing to do with it, just to take away an argument. You don’t learn it, you don’t know it, simple as that.
Concerned on how they didn't hear that C Chord altitude warning when they lost 250 feet. L-1011 still continues to be one of my favorite aircraft. Hurts to know they sat there and didn't actually do shit to save themselves before they crashed. 50,200 flight hours (Loft had 29,700, Stockstill had 5,800, Donadeo had 15,700), 4 amazing pilots, and a widebody TriStar lost in a dumbass crash that revolved around a $5 lightbulb. Absolutely no reason this should have happened. Say, that ATC could have said something about their 900 feet of altitude. Had he did that, or this crash happened in daylight, or maybe they were flying in the lights of Miami, this probably could have prevented the first loss of a widebody aircraft until the crash of Turkish Airlines Flight 981 in 1974. Coincidentally, 2 other aircraft crashed here, just 6 km (about a mile or so) away from this crash site, ValuJet Flight 592, in 1996, caused by the incompetence of a woman captain who decided to fly outbound for several minutes despite knowing there was a fire in the aircraft she was flying before turning back. Come to think about it, 1996 was a CRAZY fuckin' year. First, you had ValuJet Flight 592. Then, you had Birgenair Flight 301. THEN, you had TWA Flight 800. Even after that, it didn't stop. How about Aeroperu 603, or Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961? Then there was the Charkhi Dadri Mid-air Collision. In all, there were 18 (19, technically, because of the midair collision) FUCKIN' CRASHES in 1996. RIP to Donadeo, Loft, Repo, and Stockstill.
he crashed because nobody was flying the plane he was in command of. Four guys up front- three can get busy over a light bulb, whether the gear is truly down or not, but pick one guy to fly the airplane: hold headings and altitudes, especially when making turns north, then west, then to the south, but not holding altitude. The florida everglades is a dark hole so somebody has to ensure altitudes are being observed. It gets more visual, a visible horizon at night from the coast line lights when heading south and east. I got 20 years of flying in and out of miami, some of it at night, and one must pay attention. Also, don't disengage altitude hold unnecessarily.
The tower controller Charlie Thompson could have saved them all just by saying "Eastern... 401, say altitude" instead of "Eastern, ah, 401, how are things coming along out there?" That would have made Captain Loft check his altitude, and he would have seen that the plane was below 900 feet, and pulled up before going below 500 ft. A simple mistake in judgement that must have haunted Charlie Thompson for the rest of his days... I can imagine him on his deathbed whispering "Eastern... 401, say altitude" over and over in his final delirium.
@@B3Band : The pilots didn't know the autopilot was off until it was too late. It had turned off when the captain accidently brushed the yoke lightly with his sleeve without knowing he'd done it. Blaming someone for incompetence or negligence is one thing - blaming them for an accident they didn't know had happened is another. It's just an accident.
@@B3Band You're joking for sure. It's the job af ATC to prevent such accidents and ask the pilots to check the altitude etc. If not, is he paid for reading or sleeping???? An ancient ATC said in his commentary that ATC was at least 50% responsible of this crash, so...
That Lockheed Tristar with the Eastern livery is one of the best looking aircraft I've ever seen.
Agreed.
There is just something about Trijets
I have been watching a LOT of these videos. When its a Boeing, Lockheed or Airbus. Well designed, well engineered and well built aircraft. When it is a McDonnell Douglas MD-9/MD/10/MD11....look out below. Poorly designed & poorly built aircraft. No wonder Boeing ended up buying them...
Ikr
I agree
I remember when I was 14 years old I went to my sister’s place of work for a ride home. My sister was a beautician and she was cutting the hair of a woman that was a passenger in this awful crash. I was going to school to become an Aircraft Mechanic. My school was Aviation High School. As soon as she saw the books that I was carrying and learned what school I went to, she proceeded to tell me about the crash. Obviously the video mentions the pilots errors, but it obviously does not mention the search and rescue aspect of the crash. The survivors spent a very long time in the swamp while they were searched for, with all kinds of Vernon around. This particular lady that survived swallowed a lot of water and dirt. She sustained many injuries and was forced to walk with a cane for the rest of her life. She told me that she would never fly again. She told me that during the landing she was starting to dose off when the aircraft hit. The aircraft came apart and she was thrown out into the swampy water. She woke up in the hospital and spent years of therapy for her recovery. When I met her, 6 years had passed, but you could still see the pain that she was going through. I believe that meeting this lady made me a better Aircraft Mechanic. When you see the damage that you can do by not following procedures, it is a real eye opening. RIP to those that died in this crash and I hope that those that survived made a full recovery.
Awesome story, what a inspirational gift you happened upon. This world works in so many mysterious ways. I wish you the best in life and with your job!
My next door neighbor was on that flight. She survived. I met with her ten years later in Kendall Fl where she moved to.
Again? Why do you make up fake stories on every video? Geez get a life...
Persian Gammon I have no idea who you are or what your intentions are. I can only surmise that you are confusing me with someone else or you are trying to make fun of a tragic event. The truthful story that I told was for the benefit of the persons that enjoy these videos, such as myself. If you don’t like what you read, you are 1 click away from reading or watching something else. Have a nice life.
@@howward4071 and.....? Tell us what she said.
Worked with a guy in 1978 that was a survivor of this crash. He said it was an instant jolt then he woke in his seat sitting in water, fire all around him. The jolt knocked his shoes off but even with that he unbuckled, ran through the flames and managed to get onto dry ground.
When you saw him, he looked fine but he was burned from his elbows up, chest, back, his legs were ok as well as mid section. He said it was horrible, the treatment that is, took two years in the hospital. Of course Eastern paid it all and he was getting very healthy checks from the settlement. Once the money came in he went nuts with it, left the job, an I never saw him again. We had become friends but like anything I moved on to a new job as well and we lost contact.
God bless him if he's still around an if not hopefully God had mercy on his soul. He always said the money wasn't worth the torment.
My grandma May Albury waa one of the survivors on this flight. I couldn't even imagine goin through somethin like this. Condolences to all the lost
George Albury
Man FUCK Grandma Albury, no one cares about that old bitchass geezer and her survivor stories.
You ok?
You ok?
Can't tell you how many times l took that flight home to Miami from NY..RIP to all who perished. Glad your grandma made it
ATC failed here as well. "Oh it's nothing" Never mind they're at 900 feet and descending. Bet that guy neat himself up over that blunder. Simple as "Eastern 401, check your altitude" would have avoided this crash.
@A talking plane Exactly. Crazy, can't even imagine what the passengers were feeling. Especially those that frequent the route and know the usual landmarks on approach. Seeing the ground get closer but not seeing the airport.
If the controllers missed the jet being that low, I sincerely doubt it was because they were negligent.
@@HERBSMAN441 They saw nothing, it was pitch black.
actually the pilot altimeter was locked in at 2000 feet because of auto pilot altitude hold and only co pilot altimeter was unwinding...
All people died
My mother and I were supposed to be on that flight, but when we got to the gate she decided that I was too sick to travel. She just turned 80.
I was supposed to be on it too, but I saw the faulty light bulb on the way to my seat and decided to go home.
I was also supposed to be on this flight. My mom felt sus about it so instead I was born 30 years later
I miss Eastern Airlines. Reminds me SO much of my 70's childhood and trips to Orlando, Daytona Beach, etc.
grease58 there is a new Eastern Airlines that started a few years ago. Haven't kept up on them. Kind of like the new Frontier Air.
They were gone when I was a child, but I’ve always heard they were a decent airline.
@@danielsummey4144 I flew them from LAX to ATL in 84. They were nice.
Right? Them and National. "Fly Barbara" "Fly Linda" lol My grandfather used to get the biggest luck out of that.
I swear if someone calls you a boomer..
My uncle was career RCAF and after he retired, he was a crash inspector for Transport Canada and the RCAF. One of the last thing I heard him say was, "You know why aircraft crash? Because nobody read the manual and nobody was flying the airplane."
I was working as a licensed aircraft mechanic for EA at Newark Airport on the midnight shift after the crash of 401 in 1972. There was an L-1011 parked at the gate one night and while on my lunch break around 3am I decided to venture inside. I had heard about the "ghost" sightings and was curious (and a little apprehensive). The ghost was supposed to be seen most often in the galley so I took the elevator down there to look around... I saw nothing.... Still a little spooky though.... I frequently worked on the L-1011 many nights after that and never saw anything unusual.
yours probably did not have any salvaged parts from 401- eastern ordered them removed from all planes they got scattered to.. A seauce was held at a home to let the spirits go... a fellow pilot friend of bob loft..
1970's movie " The ghost of flight 401" is based on this...yes, my age is showing !
You old geezer
1980 born, sister. I know just how you're feeling.
Starring Ernest Borgnine.
@@MScorpioM I was born in 1967. I was 5 years old when this happened. I also seen the movie.
@@ronaldrime5286 I'll sleep easy knowing that.
I remember this. Eastern Airlines mechanics had set the steering columns with different pressures to release the autopilot. When the pilot bent over to dink with the lamp, he put just enough pressure on the steering column to disengage the autopilot. Cockpit resource management was not in place at that time. There was no-one designated to fly that wonderful Lockheed L-1011. No one was monitoring the altitude. As the plane slowly descended as it was going south, west of Miami International Airport, the left wing hit the ground as the plane turned east and the rest was awful. I remember one survivor had all four limbs removed (the Florida Everglades is a microbe rich environment) before he died. The autopsy on the pilot revealed a brain tumor. Regardless, cockpit resource management would have prevented this horrible tragedy.
The Ghost of Flight 401 had an all star crew. Captain, Russell Johnson (professor, Gilligan's island) First officer, Howard Hessman (WKRP in Cincinatti) & Flight Engineer, Ernest Borgnine (McHale's Navy).
OH boy when I first watched that movie I was SOO surprised to Russel Johnson in it as Capt. Loft! I thought to myself “Wait a minute- Is that the professor!?”
If it wasn’t so tragic this would be funny. 4 flight officers - all well trained- fixated on a light bulb. Seems like one of them would have thought to watch the rest of the plane. RIP
Unfortunately that was the procedure for the time in aircraft equipped with autopilot. No one considered that the pilots could accidentally disengage the autopilot. In hindsight, of course this is stupid. However, at the time, there is a new technology capable of the fairly mundane task of maintaining straight and level flight with no input from the pilots. So at the time, whenever there was a fault or issue in the cockpit, the procedure was to engage the autopilot and focus on fixing the problem. This crash taught us the autopilot is not perfect and so modern CRM was invented...which has saved millions of lives since.
it's the captain's job to ensure one is assigned to do so
Rule No. 1 in aviation: Always have one person dedicated to solely flying the airplane.
Ummm...you realize that is Rule 1 as a result of this crash, right? All of the principles of CRM that ensure that one is always flying were instituted as a result of this crash.
As a result of this crash, yes. You literally stated CRM...which was invented in response to this very collision.
I should clarify. The cockpit procedure prior to this accident for modern wide body aircraft was as follows:
Step #1: Set the autopilot with altitude and heading.
Step #2: Pull out appropriate checklists and work through the problem.
Step #3: Once the problem is resolved, return to flying the aircraft.
No one thought about pilots accidentally disengaging the autopilot, so it was thought to just let the plane fly itself in order for the pilots to focus on resolving the problem.
Nope. CRM was the result of the United crash in Portland Oregon. They ran out of fuel circling the airport while diagnosing a landing gear problem.
aerlial360 you bet. And scan, scan, scan .
4 men in the cockpit but not one of them is flying the plane
sounds a lot like my local city/state government......
Sounds like the UAL crash in SEA.....they forgot to fly the plane and crashed, just 5? Mi from airport. Forgot to check the fuel remaining
It was crew of three
Scott1433 I was incorrect. It was Portland, 1978. The crew was focused on the landing gear light. One of them could/should have walked to the back, under a seat a panel, and confirmed gear down. How sad!
Chairman of the Board . Yep! Pilot training 101, first lesson.
I grew up in Miami in the 70s and my dad worked for EAL at MIA. This crash was tough on the Eastern family of employees -- because it never should have happened. RIP to those that perished.
The captain had almost 30,000 hrs and he crashed because of a light bulb.
;-; but that plane was new
No he crashed because of poor situational awareness. The cockpit crew relied too much on technology and not enough on training and human senses while obsessing over a supposed technical issue. This was one of the most avoidable mainline air crashes ever. No bad weather, no mechanical failure, nothing adverse inside or out, except for the deficient organic controller behind the stick.
@@MichaelSheehy75 Easy to be critical of past events this was 1970s CRM didnt exist. Plus no autopilot disconnect warning in pitch. Now all the pilots think they cool because they have EGPWS TCAS Glass cockpit and lots of other shit because of crashes just like this. So calm the fuck down
@@herobo123456 Ha ha "calm the fuck down" says the dude having a rant.
@suny123boy1 shut up
One of the STUPIDEST accidents Ever! Absolutely did NOT NEED TO HAPPEN
Get tf outta here grandpa
I could not believe how unprofessional they sounded....must give Sully such a bad feeling to see this among his own kind.
oof
Sometimes these accidents do need to happen to advance safety and procedures.
@@Vpmatt if it were your family involved, would you be still saying this?
I can remember reading a book about the ghosts of flight 401 when I was a kid.
Also, it's interesting comparing this disaster to the crash of United Flight 173 six years later in Portland Oregon. Some similarities in the breakdown of concentration and proper communication in the cockpit, as well as similar effects of both crashes on the industry at large, namely the implantation of Cockpit Resource Management.
Except the L-1011 Captain was not a self-centered jerk, the DC-8 Captain was.........
The face in the oven and Bob Loft sitting in the seat was too creepy for me.
I still have that book in my library 😀
Another fine air disaster vid, Allec! Keep on uploading and never give up!! 😁
Oh, yet another aviation youtuber, your videos are just as good as Allec's. :D
Thank you! That’s a very nice compliment :)
@@AirplaneCentral but you need to release more videos!
I am releasing more videos. My channel is merely a hobby, so people can’t expect me to spend all my time on my computer making videos for free ;)
@@AirplaneCentralof course! so turn your hobby into $$$. the viewership and the big paycheck are just sitting there waiting for you ;)
THE classic case of flying while distracted. Academy Award winner Ernest Borgnine played the flight engineer in the ABC-TV movie "The Ghost of Flight 401."
@@kepler240 he also died at the end of Marty when he murder-suicided his mother
@@joegrimesofcourse hah, nice
He didn't die in his BEST MOVIE though.
(Hint: It was directed by Sam Peckinpaw.)
@@hogansavoy6525 what about
"The Devil's Rain"? Haven't seen it in a while.
Ernie nearly caused Ethel Merman to die...when they were married back in the 60s he would release toxic poots in bed and hold the bedsheets over her head and he called that operation the :Dutch Oven" maybe that s why the marriage only lasted 3 weeks.
I will never forget this incident. My father worked for Eastern at the time and I was in New York with my sister visiting. We were supposed to be on that flight but missed it and decided to fly home the next day. We heard about the crash the next morning.
I have read the full cockpit transcript of this accident. If you haven't read it, you should. It shows how the flight crew ignored the basics of flying an aircraft, relied on someone else to own it and put too much confidence in the "brand new" aircraft and its technology. The read of the transcript has stuck with me and I learned from it. Not as a pilot but in day to day life. Following a process, make fact based decisions and question everything.
*Condolences to the families of those souls lost aboard EAL Flight 401*
LOFT CRASHED THE PLANE!!!! MAY HE ROT IN EVRLASTING HELL!
U old man
@@messiafridi3327 Soon enough YOU will be old as well. Remember that.
Aren't you about 49 years late saying that to them now?
@@fcbarlow1995 You don't think the children of these people are still alive and well?
This crash happened just two miles from where Valujet 592 went down in 1996. An unsung hero here was Bob Marquis, the man with the air boat who witnessed the flight 401 crash and helped rescue people. He died in (I think) 2008 still loved and remembered by those he helped save. He still had his air boat and a few years before that they got together and had it restored for him.
This was, as was pointed out, before the days of CRM (Cockpit Resource Management). The rule now is the Pilot Flying (PF) flies and the Pilot Not Flying (PNF) pulls out the Flight Manual and starts trouble shooting. If he can't perform a step without help then call maintenance. If they can't help declare an emergency, if necessary, and land. The PF does not take his attention off the job of flying. It works much better than this horrible example, which was all too common back in the day.
they couldn't land regardless if he didn't think the nose was down
This one, Saudia 162, Delta 191: all of the three major incidents in whose a "ten-eleven" was involved are at least in part the crewmembers' fault.
On one side, this is a testament of how much reliable and advanced this plane was. On the other hand, it was probably too much for its time and pilots came to excesses of confidence. Still, it's sad it has had such a little commercial succes, and a bitter irony it has fallen to the first hull-loss crash of a widebody.
This is why a modern pilot seat has several handholds for leverage and an autopilot can no longer be deactivated by simply jerking the control column.
One of the strangest days/nights I have ever flown. I am serious, not kidding. I saw that plane leave that evening. I was flying Delta to Houston via one stop in New Orleans. Eastern was at the terminal across the paddock. On the flight to New Orleans (in First Class), I kept waking from a nightmare in which my plane was crashing. First in the air, second one as we were on approach to New Orleans airport (that one shook me up), then on the ground before boarding to Houston. I did not go back to sleep after that. My friend picked me up at the airport in Houston (early morning). I told him about the nightmares and he tells me that a plane had gone in the Everglades. Not kidding. Never happened again ..... thank God.
Outstanding video, thank you. I was 6 when this happened. I vaguely remember it. I flew Eastern, from Philly to Tampa with my Mom all throughout the early to mid '70's. That was the only airline she liked!
My father was supposed to be flying this flight, but the first officer wanted to get home earlier, so my father swapped flights with him. My father was in a hotel in NYC when he got the news of the crash. I remember watching the TV with my mother and sisters when the news flash said that Eastern had an L-1011 crash on its way to Miami. My mother jumped up and ran into the kitchen to check the flight number and screamed out loud as it was the flight he was supposed to be flying, FLT 401. Shortly after the news flash, my father called to say he was OK, and said that he had fallen asleep before calling home to say he would be flying home on another flight. My father struggled with his guilt and emotions over this accident for many years to come. He lost 2 of his best friends, Capt Loft and Flight Engineer Repo. My father retired in 1986 before Frank Lorenzo took over.
Today I found out that I had cousins flying with their baby and both of them died and my cousin survived the crash I saw picture today of him and my eyes were watery because looking at him I saw my baby boy in that picture he was as old as him back then
How many pilots does it take to change a lightbulb...The world may never know
RIP to all those that were lost, and to Ms Patricia Renee Shackelford and her unborn child who died in this awful disaster. My mother said she meet you in a department store in NYC.
It's been years since I'd seen the movie based on this flight. Was she the pregnant woman portrayed in the movie?
@@vickiweber4718 I believe so! She was on her way to Miami to visit her family. My mom told me she knew a girl from the flight who was pregnant.
My father was an Eastern Captain and happened to be deadheading on the plane behind 401. We thought he was on 401 and had lost him. My father knew Captain Loft and said he was a real hard ass and autocratic - Stockstill noticed something wrong with the altitude and instead of taking over turned to Loft and said, we done something to the altitude, we are still at 3,000 feet, right? That was 7 full seconds before impact, plenty of time to pull up -He just have seen the altimeter near zero. I suspect, and its just conjecture on my part, that the FO did not want to take action on his own, maybe because he was intimidated? They have since trained all pilots to be vigilant and use teamwork and not just rely on one authoritative captain, which had been prevalent in aviation from early times. I hate to criticize two dead crew members, but the facts seem to point that way? We seem to have learned from it. Very sad.
Awesome video. I loved the fly by shots, gave a chance to appreciate the design of the aircraft 😊
Sad story, I've seen this on TV years ago. But this is an excellent video. when I read Frank Borman's name my blood boiled. He destroyed a great airline.
he was one of the astronauts on apollo 8 4 years earlier
I think a lot of the commenters that are criticizing the pilots are time warping and being a little unfair. Many of the modern safety protocols and features that would have prevented this accident weren't in place or weren't available to them.
I think the conclusive message was not watching the instruments to monitor real-time flight data. Never assume technology will do it for you.
@@empireoflizards exactly what's wrong in case of almost all the Airbus crashes - too much dependence on technology and not enough skill to compensate when it fails.
Situational awareness and cockpit discipline is nothing new. Was around then as now. Although, cockpit discipline and management has improved.
The plane failed in that it had a burnt out light, but the pilots ARE TO BLAME for losing sight of their priorities. If you do not blame the pilots then what caused the crash?
It did bring about CRM...which has certainly prevented many similar crashes (as well as fatalities) since implemented...
While visiting Ecuador in the 70’s, I remember seeing the AeroPeru Tristar at the Guayaquil International Airport. RIP to the souls lost in the crash. Sad result for a faulty light
Gotta admit, the L10-11 was a sexy plane!
Sanddab Z Until it retired...
@@bravoRYT2018 No doubt.
It's my favorite
@@bravoRYT2018 Yes, because at that point it ceased to exist and to ever have existed...
Um, NO
The Tristar, my favorite plane.
Yes, a great looking plane too, unlike the ugly DC-10.
@@ludovicoc7046 that's rude and harsh but I still liked your comment
@@ludovicoc7046 Yes, the Tri-star was cool. DC-10 (& 11) not so much
One guy always flies the plane, that's his/her only job.
As a result of this crash, yes. You literally stated CRM...which was invented in response to this very collision.
One of your better videos. I like the fact that you actually showed the crash.
As for the ghost sighting...that is very possible given the tragic circumstances.
All those man hours got these pilots too complacent.
Was a nuclear control room operator / senior operator / watch engineer / assistant plant supervisor / plant supervisor over a 23 year period. The very first thing we did when relieving the watch in the control room was test every annunciator (alarm) and control panel light in the control room. We had a button combination that lit everything up. I don't understand why this wasn't standard procedure on a check list somewhere.
they tested the lights(Christmas tree test), the nose gear light never lit up. I guess with something as important as landing gear they wanted to double check the double check. Sad tragedy in hindsight.
@@yardfowl3149 One questions then - why did they take off with malfunctioning landing gear indications. It would seem to me that would be pretty important.
@@cgirl111 I can not answer that question. I do not know if the light test was done prior to operating or only after the malfunction was noticed. I do agree that a simple light test prior to operation could have possibly prevented this. However It is possible that the test was run prior to operating and the bulb failed at some point after the initial test? I really do not know. Th
@@cgirl111 They would not have taken off with a failed gear indicator. It must have failed in flight. The gear lights are extinguished when the gear is retracted (from just after takeoff until shortly before landing) so this malfunction would not be noticed until the gear was extended for landing.
I am not sure why, but I find myself watching all of your videos. They are informative and well made. :)
My neighbor survived the crash, but was never the same.
She had racing dogs in Miami.
Married to a mobster, the racing was totally a fixed profit making venture.
She was obnoxious after she was portrayed in the movie.
What movie?
Crash, racing dogs, mobsters, movie...you're all over the place, you nit.
@@scarecrow2885 Yeah, covered a whole damn novel in four sentences. LOL.
The movie scares me. I think it's too real. I mean ghosts visiting after a crash? (I'll be under my blanket, thank you!)
The movie is named "The Ghost of flight 401" :)
It feels like no matter how highly experienced the pilots are, even if there was a flight and the pilots had more than 10,000 flying hours and more than 1,000 hours in the aircraft type, there can still be a crash caused by pilot error.
Amazing history on this airline. Bravo to the people that helped.
RIP
To the 101 passengers and crew of Eastern Air Lines Flight 401
Another title for this could be,
"Lessons learned: Don't sweat the small stuff".
I'm not sure that's a good idea. I think a lot of crashes were probably averted by sweating the small stuff.
You might be interested in the talk "we are doing a great work and cannot come down" by Dieter F Uchtdorf, a former Lufthansa pilot. Even if you aren't religious, it's still a good talk on keeping important stuff prioritized
Because the plane went down in the Everglades, the Air Force was called in to help locate the wreckage, by using the sophisticated sensors on an AC-130 Gunship.
I wanted to pull my hair out reading what the pilots were saying/doing.
It was quite anxiety provoking. Despite knowing the outcome in these, I always hope for some miraculous change in the storyline where they do not crash and everyone survives. Wishful thinking.
I worked on 311EA for years when I worked for Piedmont Aviation. I do have a set of rudder pedals from an L1011-385, but nit from an EA aircraft.
Nice this Video was remade. I like it.
As always Allec keep making videos and reuploads!
I heard that the co pilots instrumentation panel including the altimeter still indicated the auto pilot settings even after the captain nudged the column. As far as the co pilot was concerned they were still at 2000 feet.
Clearly the pilots were not "concerned" at all about their altitude, because it's easier to be concerned with a light bulb.
I'm so finished flying I'm 59 and have
Been on many planes including the L1011. I'm lucky was never in an accident.
CONGRATULATIONS and GRATITUDE! I wish you a serene life !Greetings from France!
Eastern Airlines sure had an extensive record of fatal crashes and incidents. I flew on board several times as a kid- even got some wings and other swag. Glad all my flights made it OK. RIP to all the victims of aircrashes everywhere. It's still, and now more than ever, the safest mode of transportation.
Fun fact-In 1978, a television movie was made about this incident "The Ghost of Flight 401". It starred Ernest Borgnine in the title role as the Captain, Russell Johnson as the Second Officer and Kim Basinger as one of the two flight attendants who survived the crash. I watched it online and would highly recommend it!
Thank you for the upload!
47 Years (1972-2019).
This is what is called lack of situational awareness.
The ghost of FO Repo is real. Did you know that is is standard policy now that planes that crash and result in death (and a totaled airplane ) are scrapped. They do not install those parts on other planes. FO Repo warned a flight attendant about a fire. There was no fire on that flight, but her next flight there was a really bad oven fire.
I heard about the ghost sightings w/ a downed airliner. I didn't know it was a L-1011. Thank you Allec
There is a book named 'The Ghosts of Flight 401' by John Fuller. It's an interesting read, even if you don't believe in ghosts. It goes into a lot of detail about the crew and the crash, so its also a great account of the crash.
My wife, Janet (flight attendant) was scheduled for that flight, but swapped off with another girl.
Oh, I remember watching this before.
Great video, may I suggest another item of interest?
Hopefully you have time to make "Air India: Explosive Evidence"
Once again, I hope you continue making videos, they are very high quality in all standards. :)
I remember the advertisements for Eastern Airlines. Their headline caption was “ Eastern Airlines. The Wings of Man.”
R J I still have Eastern timetables,,and many freight shipping forms, I flew with EASTERN more than ANY other airline ,,I got to know many cabin crew & Cockpit crew& walked the picket line @ EWR, those days were good prior to the strike . Cheers from NJ
Leighton Samms Thanks for the reply. I forgot all about the “timetables” that airlines used to have available. I used to really enjoy flying “back in the day” when the flight itself was just as exciting as the destination itself. One of my favorite memories was on the Continental Airlines “Pub” flights. Their DC-10 configuration had a “lounge area” in the center of the aircraft...pretty classy to say the least. Greetings from Sacramento, Ca.
This was intense
I don’t understand how they crashed? Because the captain wasn’t paying attention to the altitude? Is that right?He thought the auto pilot was on and didn’t know they were descending?
That's Affirmative Tyson
The Captain should've just landed the plane to begin with. Whether the nose gear is down or not, the aircraft still has to land. Nose gear failures are typically survivable.
Hindsight is 20/20. Imagine being in the cockpit and not knowing. That's a highly risky move. They did the right thing by trying to verify, however, they only tried to verify and forgot to fly the damn thing.
@@AmyAnnLand They didn't try to verify. They were too busy trying to get a light bulb to work! If they had skipped the light bulb, they could have easily verified that the gear was down and that they could land the plane.
They could literally just ask someone to look up and tell them if the gear is down. And still land with the assumption that it is not, just in case the gear is faulty.
Easiest thing to do since they were in pattern for landing was fly by over the runway and have tower and other planes on ground check the nose gear then just got back into the pattern and landed, just simply execute a go around
The pilot's hierarchy of needs is AVIATE, NAVIGATE, COMMUNICATE In that order. Always fly the plane
My uncle was on the National Airline that went down in 1960? It went from NYC to MIAMI but exploded over Bolivia, NC. Do you have any recreations of that crash
I flew on N323EA around 1979 when it was leased to BA. L-1011 a magnificent aircraft.
Wow that was almost 50 years ago. They don't even make Tri-star anymore do they?
Joyce Joseph nope. Tristar Production stopped in 1984.
@@ateltoni Sad to see such an advanced plane never take flight again.
Sanance Macne yeah that’s really sad. We will also never see another Tri-Jet be made again.
Ateltoni34 and LOCKHEED said THEY WILL NEVER EVER MAKE A COMMERCIAL AIRLINER AGAIN , they actually LOST MONEY on their L1011., never made their quota, sad to see such an advanced plane like it again. Cheers from NJ
Sadly, no, they are not made any longer. Despite this crash, the L-1011 had one of the best (if not THE best) safety record of all aircraft ever made....
Imagine somehow surviving the crash only to fine yourself in a swamp with alligators.
A Very Sad Day.
My husbands Uncle (50 years a multi aircraft certified pilot, flight instructor, safety consultant, mechanic, you name it) always knew via his expert knowledge within 48 hrs. what actually happened in any given aircraft disaster. This one he could not bring himself to except until final reports were filed. And those ghost stories ? He wasn't about to call any of those professionals, some of whom he knew and worked with, willing to risk their jobs by talking about their experiences, liars or nut cases.
After all, he and his fellow pilots were still keeping their own records and council over UFO's for pretty much the same reason..
Oh please. Those stories have been thoroughly debunked.
So four pilots, none of them is flying the plane. They're all preoccupied with fixing a light bulb when all gears were down and locked so they coulda landed. So many ironies here
I'd be a real nervous passenger if I heard the landing gear lowered, retracted & lowered again all within the space of a few minutes.
The ambient lighting within the cabin should change to indicate when the autopilot is in control of the plane.
A simply hue shift (say, towards the blue or red spectrum) would eliminate the possibility of this pilot error from ever happening again.
Captain Loft did have over 30,000 hours in flying, but only 280 of those were on the L-1011.
How could the company give him the command of an aircraft he was barely discovering ?? ATC was sleeping also!!!
The crew had no idea they were flying so low. When was the "Terrain-Pull Up" warning introduced?
Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) was first mandated in 1974.
1991
This is the crash that got me interested in air safety. Tragic event, can't believe how long ago that was.
Would it not have been possible for the plane to do a fly-by near enough the tower to allow a visual on whether the nose gear had been lowered?
thats what hell hole was for and it was night time
@@bradleysmall2230 Yeah, you're right. Better to just try to fix the light bulb all night instead.
it's not a helicopter
In the pitch black of night? Did you even watch the ENTIRE video?
Love the new format. I remember that crash.Eastern Airlines slogan The wings of man. They were the official airlines for Disney World.I loved the L1011 second only too the 747 the one they always called the Mother,.What ever happened to Reno airlines? When i lived in San Diego the planes came in so low you could almost touch them. And you always heard the wind vortex swishing around you.
A simple chime that wasn't heard on the flight deck. RIP.
You know that it won't end well when they show pictures of the pilots at the beginning
The TriStar was quite a plane......
Tickle Fingers at the time it was to be designed, the need was for a large plane which HAD to Land & Take Off FROM LGA, for the most lucrative NY - MIA ROUTE, but that plane was so far advanced, it could actually get the plant to the aPROPER GATE., unfortunalately sales were dismal, an resorted to bribe foreign carriers to but their plane, so after NOT reaching its planned quota, the plane was terminated , I may also add , that the design & completion of its engines BANCRUPTED ROLLS ROYCE, but it was done, and so the RB211 engine has been the most popular engine it still makes, several versions are being used TODAY., NOW BMW owns RR, and so it goes, Cheers from NJ
Hence the pilot's number 1 rule: Fly. The. Plane.
As a result of this crash, yes. You literally stated CRM...which was invented in response to this very collision.
Thanks for this video Allec! Just an idea but I know you have a lot on your plate lately but maybe a new series could be; "Air Incidents". And an upload which would suit this is
Air Incidents - Phantom Flaw (Orenair Flight 9542)
The L-1011 WhisperJet....I LOVED those birds! Used to fly in them a lot from PHL to MIA back in the 70s....Are any still in commercial use?
A 49 cent part and an oblivious crew was responsible for over 100 deaths.
Should never have happened.
And the nitwit controller is also party to blame. "Eastern, 401, check your altitude."
I have zero experience in flying, was it that important to try and fix the lightbulb at that moment? Did they really need it now???
REWIND to 8:26
ATC: “Eastern 401, report altitude”
No more ghost stories
What a great aviation safety culture in the 70s: "Oh, my computers probably wrong, we can't possible take 4 seconds to find out for sure
From 6km crash site flight 401 have crash site valujet flight 592
english good
ye
Wade Gustafson of Gustafson Motors you don’t know how well they were taught English; if at all or if it was autodidact.
I would like to see you do Russian. I know, different alphabet system but once you learn that, you can learn the rest. I’ll ask you in 1,5y to write what this guy meant in perfect Russian.
Or to make it easier, a year with a language with our alphabet but completely different from English. Say, learn the language of Bangladesh from scratch and all by yourself.
See you next year, we’ll find out howbyiuvdid.
English being spoken worldwide has nothing to do with it, just to take away an argument. You don’t learn it, you don’t know it, simple as that.
Concerned on how they didn't hear that C Chord altitude warning when they lost 250 feet. L-1011 still continues to be one of my favorite aircraft. Hurts to know they sat there and didn't actually do shit to save themselves before they crashed.
50,200 flight hours (Loft had 29,700, Stockstill had 5,800, Donadeo had 15,700), 4 amazing pilots, and a widebody TriStar lost in a dumbass crash that revolved around a $5 lightbulb. Absolutely no reason this should have happened.
Say, that ATC could have said something about their 900 feet of altitude. Had he did that, or this crash happened in daylight, or maybe they were flying in the lights of Miami, this probably could have prevented the first loss of a widebody aircraft until the crash of Turkish Airlines Flight 981 in 1974.
Coincidentally, 2 other aircraft crashed here, just 6 km (about a mile or so) away from this crash site, ValuJet Flight 592, in 1996, caused by the incompetence of a woman captain who decided to fly outbound for several minutes despite knowing there was a fire in the aircraft she was flying before turning back.
Come to think about it, 1996 was a CRAZY fuckin' year. First, you had ValuJet Flight 592. Then, you had Birgenair Flight 301. THEN, you had TWA Flight 800. Even after that, it didn't stop. How about Aeroperu 603, or Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961? Then there was the Charkhi Dadri Mid-air Collision. In all, there were 18 (19, technically, because of the midair collision) FUCKIN' CRASHES in 1996.
RIP to Donadeo, Loft, Repo, and Stockstill.
he crashed because nobody was flying the plane he was in command of. Four guys up front- three can get busy over a light bulb, whether the gear is truly down or not, but pick one guy to fly the airplane: hold headings and altitudes, especially when making turns north, then west, then to the south, but not holding altitude. The florida everglades is a dark hole so somebody has to ensure altitudes are being observed. It gets more visual, a visible horizon at night from the coast line lights when heading south and east. I got 20 years of flying in and out of miami, some of it at night, and one must pay attention. Also, don't disengage altitude hold unnecessarily.
Can’t the plane fly close enough for the tower to take a look and see if the nose gear is down?
guess that's only in the movies although it was nighttime
@@railrunner01 Either way, an experienced pilot can land a plane. Planes can be, and have been, landed safely without the nose gear being down.
The tower controller Charlie Thompson could have saved them all just by saying "Eastern... 401, say altitude" instead of "Eastern, ah, 401, how are things coming along out there?"
That would have made Captain Loft check his altitude, and he would have seen that the plane was below 900 feet, and pulled up before going below 500 ft.
A simple mistake in judgement that must have haunted Charlie Thompson for the rest of his days... I can imagine him on his deathbed whispering "Eastern... 401, say altitude" over and over in his final delirium.
LOL. Really trying to blame anyone but the people who were being paid to fly the plane and keep everyone alive.
@@B3Band : The pilots didn't know the autopilot was off until it was too late. It had turned off when the captain accidently brushed the yoke lightly with his sleeve without knowing he'd done it.
Blaming someone for incompetence or negligence is one thing - blaming them for an accident they didn't know had happened is another. It's just an accident.
@@B3Band The ATC guy was, in fact, a part of the SAFETY team.
@@B3Band You're joking for sure. It's the job af ATC to prevent such accidents and ask the pilots to check the altitude etc. If not, is he paid for reading or sleeping???? An ancient ATC said in his commentary that ATC was at least 50% responsible of this crash, so...
Una vez mas, congratulaciones por tu trabajo.
'Til this day, the Captain and his crew are still looking to see if the wheels are down...