Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 | Morbid | Podcast

Just before midnight on December 29, 1972, Eastern Air Lines Flight 401, traveling from New York to Miami, crashed into the Florida Everglades, killing nearly two thirds of the passengers on board. Crashing into the swamp softened the landing and likely saved dozens, but the remote location made rescue efforts complicated and required a cooperative effort between first responders and local civilians.
The crash came at a difficult time for the airline industry, following closely on a number of several high-profile hijackings and examples of equipment malfunctions that negatively affected ticket sales. This only got worse when the investigation into Flight 401 was concluded and the cause of the crash was determined to be operator error when the flight crew became distracted and unaware that the autopilot had switched itself off.
In the months and years that followed, several Eastern Air employees and survivors of Flight 401 began reporting sightings of the ghosts of crew members and passengers who died in the crash. Although Eastern Air went out of their way to deny any sightings, the stories spread and became a part of Florida folklore as the subject of books, television films, and even a public spectacle as part of Ed and Lorraine Warren’s Occult Museum in Connecticut.
Thank you to the glorious David White, of Bring Me the Axe podcast, for research assistance :)
References:
Aguila, Grethel. 2022. "'We're down.' Flight 401 crashed in Miami 50 years ago." Miami Herald, December 21: A3.
Associated Press. 1980. "Eastern still fighting ghost." Honolulu Star-Bulletin, August 28: 52.
Baxter, Mike. 1972. "Rescue armada mobilized within half hour." Miami Herald, December 31: 15.
Fuller, John. 1976. The Ghost of Flight 401. New York, NY: Berkley Publishing Corporation.
Jenkins, Greg. 2005. Florida's Ghostly Legends And Haunted Folklore: South And Central Florida (volume one). Sarasota, FL: Pineapple Press.
Kay, Jennifer. 2007. "Everglades jet crash haunts hero." Rocky Mountain News, December 26.
National Transportation Safety Board. 1973. Aircraft Accident Reports: Eastern Air Lines L-1011, N310EA. Aircraft accident report, Washington D.C.: National Transportation Safety Board.
Orlando Evening Star. 1972. "Stewardess sings carols to survivors." Orlando Evening Star, December 30: 1.
Star Services. 1972. "Many survive Everglades jet crash." Orlando Evening Star, December 30: 1.
Times-News.
#wondery #morbid #podcast #airplanecrashes #airplanecrash #airplane #accident #tragedy

[@thatmombielife]

Bud!!!! My dude!!! Such a HERO! So cool he was there to help all those people.

[@violetaaguirre4780]

I don't know why this was one of the hardest episodes 😢to listen to!!

[@hemlocksword1216]

I cannot believe the looting, thats horrific.

[@cakemashers1816]

It’s in bad taste. The least horrific thing in this story.

[@lovinglisa3205]

Wow,this was sad and amazing.

[@u2young4me2]

You guys need to cover the Sylvia likens case in indiana it has been a haunting case and is still brought up today

[@TheMunchie1983]

I work for FedEx. I used to load and offload planes. All the planes had hell holes in the flight deck that the aircraft maintenance workers would have to squeeze into to fix stuff. Let me tell you that door was a tight fit to get into. no thanks.

[@tarawilson4331]

I've always had a terrible fear of flying!!! So happy I'll never have to get on a plane again!!!

[@queenramirez0807]

I have so many chills. 😱

[@astridholland6675]

This episode really messed me up! I don't even know why it did more than others on the podcast

[@mollybell5779]

I'm familiar with this incident. They think the captain reached out and inadvertently hit the yoke, which disengaged the autopilot. The crew was completely focused on the indicator light, and nobody was monitoring the instruments.

[@desireedavisbrogan81]

Here I am listening to this, and my first flight ever is in November 😮😅

[@sandityche]

Not me listening to this while txting my sister about our flight to Hawaii for our birthday in May (2024)...

[@jacee173]

This is so depressing that people take stuff from people who had passed in a horrific way That is not cool 75 people had survived 99 died then 2 died in a hospital