The Ghosts of Eastern Flight 401
In December 1972, there was a deadly air crash in Florida’s Everglades. But that wasn’t the end of the story…
It was Christmas 1972 and passengers and crew onboard Eastern Airlines Flight 401 were making the relatively short journey between New York and Florida. They would never arrive.
This tragic air crash was the most deadly ever to have occurred in the US at the time and generated heartbreaking stories of loss, heroism and love. However, it also created a ghost story that has never really been explained to this day. Here, we’ll take a closer look.
A routine flight
The aircraft assigned to Eastern Airlines Flight 401 that December 29th was an L-1011 from Lockheed, often referred to as a Whisperliner due to its quiet engines.
It had been cleared for a 9PM departure from New York’s JFK airport to Miami, with Captain Robert Loft at the helm and Albert John Stockstill, a former Air Force flier, as his co-pilot.
Also on board were 25-year Eastern veteran Donald Louis Repo as engineer and second officer, maintenance specialist Angelo Donadeo, and Warren Terry, who was off-duty but hitching a ride to return from a duty assignment.
