Marquis is also survived by a son, Donald Marquis of Altamonte Springs; a daughter, Terri Mabie of Tucson; 10 grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. Frightened, they called the flight deck, and the flight engineer came down to have a look for himself. Ronald Jaye March 27, 1940 This one quip appears to be the genesis of the entire story. Hansel owned a single engine Piper Comanche 250, registered as N7510P, that held four people, including the pilot. Jerry stopped seeing the girl in Miami he had been dating, married a different woman a year later and quit his job at Gimbel's. I don't know if she ever did return to flying; my mother never told me one way or the other. Work toward erecting a permanent memorial for Flight 401 at the Curtiss Mansion in Miami continues under the leadership of survivors Ron Infantino and Beverly Raposa. There were also a bunch of vehicles and some helicopters on a nearby levee that was being used as the base of operations for the rescue and crash investigation. * Glenn C. Remkus, 47, was still hospitalized in Miami with burns and two broken legs as of February 1973, though a newspaper report on Dec 31st had reported him to be in "satisfactory" condition and in "good spirits." In the hospital, a nine-inch steel rod was inserted into the bone. The lack of confirmation from the interior landing light signal so consumed the entire crews attention, that none of them noticed that one of them had inadvertently switched off the autopilot. 2017. His required surgery. A Florida plane crash scene became even more disturbing when an alligator was spotted devouring the victim's body. The night was a balmy 72 degrees, the mosquitoes surprisingly sparse. Jerome Becker 6/27/39 He invested in real estate, too. Bob called Infantino, who loves to tell the story: "He was a regional coordinator with AFLAC, American Family Life Assurance Co., and that's when I started -- 16 years ago, and I've been with them ever since. Allen M. Stark 8/11/49 Eastern used the Bowmar/Calrod brand. We've been married going on 18 years now." Infantino, 47, is an independent insurance broker in San Antonio, a few minutes' drive from home in Dade City. Boom. Bud saw bodies strapped into seats upside down in the water. The harrowing tale of three survivors of the 1972 crash of Eastern Airlines flight 401 into the Everglades. Pilots and flight attendants frequently saw Don Repo after that, and always he gave them some valuable maintenance note about the aircraft. Pine and others want to do something nice for Bud, perhaps honor him with a special day, raise cash for Bud's taxes, groceries and medical bills. His writings form the basis for much of this Web site, with permission. In addition to commemorating Flight 401, the creative talent behind the exhibit is seeking to help survivors raise the funding needed to create a permanent large-scale memorial to Flight 401's victims and survivors in the City of Miami Springs, once home to a thriving Eastern Air Lines community. They also told me that Bill had been called shortly after he got home by the police department helicopter unit to come back to the airport (the police helicopter unit was based at Opa locka) for emergency flight duty. We exited the area and returned to Opa locka Airport, but our conversations were subdued. Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 was on its final approach into Miami shortly before midnight 50 years ago this month when a single light bulb on the aircraft's instrument panel failed to illuminate . Interment will follow at 2pm at Florida National Cemetery. Michael Ann Kaminer 12/28/45 In particular, an oven and the elevator (for the L-1011 had an elevator leading to a spacious downstairs galley) were salvaged from Flight 401 and installed on another L-1011 in the fleet, on which Repo usually appeared. I had first, second and third-degree burns all over my body. Like so many such cases, its exploitation of a tragedy for financial gain and publicity was disrespectful to both the victims and the survivors. Paranormal phenomena and bizarre oddities. Abover right - Over 100 airboats participated in the evenet. At home, waiting sometimes fearfully, was Nancy, a pretty barefoot country girl in a cotton dress. 17 Mar. The memories don't. Below Left - In red, stewardess Beverly Raposa at the memorial. That's why Hansel wanted me to fly; it would be my license that got revoked if we got caught, not his! That's where the helicopters, one after another, landed that night, and where ambulances arrived to load the dead and injured. Flight 401 - First Response | Possible Curse of Seminole Indians | Two minutes later, Flight 401 called the air traffic control tower. A jet airliner is not something that immediately comes to mind: except to those who know aboutEastern Air Lines flight 401. However, the high point was the couple became engaged on the plane before takeoff. Thats what youre going to get when we get out of here. Raposa popped the release buckle and fell into the marsh, landing on her hands and knees. He received a $250,000 settlement in a lawsuit, blew it all, got into drug trouble, went back to work and fell off a truck. In a weak voice, one of them asked, What about the alligators?, Raposa didnt hesitate: We made such a loud noise when we hit. You can see the brand name on the oven instruction plate. He saw a man, sitting in the water with a neck injury, trying to remain upright. Bud's heroics were featured prominently a few days later in the Miami Herald. 35 Years after an Eastern Air Lines jet crashed into the Everglades, a rescuer looks back. Anne Ponte 1/7/16 In fact, do a Google image search for "flight 401 wreckage" and you'll see at a glance that the aircraft was completely destroyed. Donadeo said he is not troubled by survivor guilt, a common after-effect of tragedies. Their marriage spanned 47 years. He told of an unidentified mechanic who came upon a whole stockroom of equipment, all in perfect working condition, that Eastern had ordered to be removed from various aircraft. Theyre not going to find us, an anxious passenger whispered. Survivors described a flash or spark that exploded through the cabin as the jet ripped apart. Flipping through the pages, Bud smiles for the first time in hours. Leonhard discovered a hole in the bushes, roughly circular in shape and a little larger than the mouth of a culvert pipe. "I still love to fly; I get on planes and fall asleep like a baby," jokes Raposa. He usually wrote UFO books, and was best known for The Interrupted Journey about the Betty and Barney Hill case. It seemed to be miles off course. Gas gangrene attacked his lungs. That credo seems to be exemplified in every major airplane crash. More than a single person has often been present at the time, whether by accident or design. Now for the big decisions - who gets to ride with us? At first, the VP just assumed that this was the Captain of the flight he was on. Reigler, P. "Lessons Learnt from the Crash of Eastern 401." It was more accurately a "tie-down"club; the members owned their aircraft and joined the club to be able to tie-down their aircraft at reasonable costs and have access to a ramp area where they could perform routine maintenance on their planes. He and his wife, Donna, live in Christmas, a small town between Orlando and Cape Canaveral. Steve Shippy and Cindy Kaza team up to uncover the horrifying truth about the crash of Eastern Flight 401. Abbey Lynn Greenwald 9/18/52 There would be plenty of time for body recovery, Leonhard said. Diane Carol Greenblatt 5/5/52 Raposa was struggling for ideas to keep her group occupied. On the night of December 29th, 1972, Eastern Airlines Flight 401 took off from New York and headed towards Miami, Florida. About a year after the crash of Flight 401, she told me that one of the flight attendants who had survived the crash had come back to work at Eastern, but was assigned to the executive secretarial pool while she recovered from her physical injuries and tried to cope with her mental anguish. Angelo Donadeo, Patricia R Georgia, Adrianne Ann Hamilton, Jennifer Larsen, Thomas Mulcahy, Mercedes V Ruiz, Beverly Jean Raposa, Trudy J Smith, Sue F. Tibbs, Sharon R Transue, Dorothy M Warnock. It is now known that "Mrs. McAvoy" was Donna Smith, Thomas McAvoy's traveling companion. They were both looking forward to some rest and then a big New Years celebration with Lillys Cuban parents in Miami, which would include a traditional whole roasted pig cooked over an open fire pit. That was a miracle that is probably attributable to three factors: (1) the crash site was a soft, wet swamp; (2) there was no significant post-crash fire; and (3) the force of disintegration was directed horizontally and not vertically, flinging many survivors out into the swamp instead of subjecting them to fatal blunt force trauma which is characteristic of most airplane crashes. I really do think I can gig some frogs if I had to.". Almost 40 years ago, Eastern Airlines flight 401 crashed. May Albury, Verena Bieri, Carl Bolufe, Rigoberto Bolufe, Sandra Burt, Gustavo Cassado, Mrs Xeimara Casado, Miss Christina Casado, Ann Connell, Barry Connell, Mariel Diegeriez, Gerald W Eskow, Sylvia Fisher, Ms. F. Frankin, Herbert Fresko, Molly Fresko, Alicia Garcia, Julia Garcia, Kathryn F.Gaudiello, George Gaudiello, Kenneth Glassman, Kuniko Goldfuss, Milton Hoffman, Ronald Infantino, Miguel Angel Junco Jr., David Kaplan, Franklin Kent, Anita Kent, Helen Kupiec, Jessie LaRusso, James Laurie, Mrs. Leone Levine, Cornelia Leya, Thomas McAvoy, Joseph Mazur, Rose Mazur, Luis Mejia, Richard N. Micale, Albert J Morris, Janice Minguzzi, Christina Ochoa, Allen Okanawsky, Oneida Pares, Aristides Pares, Martha Pares, Carlos Polanco, Lucino Polanco, Joseph Popson, Richard Pragluski, Goldez Quinico, Evelyn Ragalia, Marie Rego, Glen Remkus*, Francoise Riette, Thomas Rothenberg, Martin Siminerio, Bonnie Silverman, Donna Smith, Millie Soberon, Jerald Solomon, Larry Sumpkins, Marilyn Taylor, Edward Ulrich, Jesse C. Walker, Allen Weiss, Lorenzo Zetlin. Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 was on its final approach into Miami shortly before midnight 50 years ago this month when a single light bulb on the aircraft's instrument panel failed to illuminate. Hey! "I consider the survivors 75 miracles. He'd cruise up on the frog, spear the frog with the 3-pronged gig, knock the frog off the gig into a sack, all the while moving forward in the airboat while getting ready to gig another frog. Official Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 - History, Photos, Survivors and Tribute. New York: Dial Press, 1980. She had no first-aid kit. For survivors, the crash has left physical and mental scars. I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown. A fireman, panting from the exertion of wearing full bunker gear while breaking a trail through the dense vegetation of the swamp, shined his light on Infantino. Really do think I can gig some frogs if I had first, second and third-degree burns over. 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