The Distraction That Killed 101 People (Eastern Air lines Flight 401) - DISASTER BREAKDOWN 

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"Florida is highly unusual", never were truer words spoken.

Also, for non-Floridians, the Everglades is that big-there are zoning laws that limit the expansion of urban development for the sole purpose of preserving one of the most unique ecosystems on the planet.

"Florida is highly unusual." Evergreen commentary, lol. ETA: the ghost stories surrounding the plane parts are fascinating to me for their folkloric value. The 1970s were the start of Eastern Airlines' financial and labor woes, and I wonder if the salvaging of parts from such a gruesome crash really stirred up some feelings about whether or not the executives even gave a crap about their employees. Ghost stories are fundamentally about the hope that something transcends the unfairness of life on earth, after all, so I wonder if people just kind of willed this legend into being to express their dissatisfaction with the company. I mean, the stories certainly pissed the company off and got them to remove the salvaged parts.

I wonder if this accident is part of why modern aircraft now have two bulbs per illuminator. It’s a common thing nowadays, even my car has two LEDs per warning light. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that each bulb in an aircraft is powered from either electrical bus, so bulb 1 is on bus A, bulb 2 is on bus B, etc.

I grew up in Miami, remember how successful Eastern was. This is still one of the most terrifying disasters for me. All I can think about is the primordial funk of the Everglades. Gators, brackish water, and the monumental work of the rescuers. God bless them all. Thank you Chloe for another first rate analysis. We all appreciate your hard work and dedication.

My next door neighbor was on that flight. She survived and I got to ask her what she remembered. I was awestruck.

I'm always baffled when i hear this story that they weren't satisfied when they did the light test that the bulb was merely burnt out. It is a test created to literally see if illumination is working properly.

I have a German vanity license plate on the front of my car that says "TRISTAR" - many assume it's a nod to the Mercedes logo, but it is indeed a reference to this magnificent aircraft. Thank you for sharing some details about it. The L1011 really was special. And of course, as always, excellent video. I always look forward to your work!

The annual report for Eastern Airline for 1972 made mention of the payment they received from the hull insurer, which if I recall correctly, stated the payment "resulted from the involuntary conversion of the asset." That's some big-dollar wordsmithing..

"Florida is highly unusual" 🤣

*Florida is highly unusual* Understatement of the decade.

My aviation consultant group has been working with the 401 survivors who make up the Eastern Airlines Flight 401 memorial/ tribute group since 2009. This December 29th on Thursday 29th December, 2023 at 1pm on the 50th anniversary of the crash we are dedicating a memorial stone a prelude to the bigger memorial which has been designed by Miami, Florida architect firm Brockhouse and Associates to the 101 souls lost. The event will be in Miami Spring near the Miami Springs Golf Club. My friends surviving passenger Ron Infantino who lost his wife of 27 days will be there as well as surviving flight attendants Beverly Raposa ( who sang Christmas Carrolls) to keep the survivors calm as well as Mercy Ruiz who help a baby, baby Miguel Junco live after his parents died. Also from Saturday January 14th to Saturday March 19, 2023 at History of Miami Museum we are having a Eastern Airlines Flight 401 art exhibition. Years ago, I recruited a local, world known artist called George Rodez were he recruited 11 artist and they painted L-1011 models produced by my friends at Atlantic Models.

First time my parents and I visited Florida, we broke down on the highway. Everglades all around us. We were there for hours in the dark, and that was bad enough. Can only imagine what it was like for these survivors

BEA Tridents had autoland before the L1011 entered service.

The L-1011 is my favorite aircraft. It was also my first wide body - TWA on STL-SFO in June 1984.

Disaster Breakdown: *Posts video every Saturday* Me, EVERY single Saturday morning: “Yaaaaayyyyyyyy!!!!!!” with a little happy dance

I've been that focus before. I was then hit by a rollercoaster. I was working on the track at the time, and almost finished with my work. They told us to duck out of the way when it was running. I was like almost done, almost done. Yeah. Whack

The most beautiful plane of all time. Glad I got to fly on it five times.

The only reason why the L-1011 was less successful then the DC-10 was not because it couldn’t outshine the DC-10 but it was more expensive to build an L-1011 than a DC-10 or even the more advanced MD-11 and because it came into the market later than both the DC-10 and B747

The L1011 was quite distinctive. All Tri Jets were so cool!

I’ve been wondering; would you at all be interested in making videos on other transportation disasters? Boat and train accidents are what come to mind. I just think you’d do wonderfully.

I remember watching a TV movie called Ghost of Flight 401. I'm a skeptic as far as the paranormal goes but it wasn't a bad movie.

I’ve been really enjoying your channel the past few weeks, and just wanted to thank you especially for including captions!! It makes things so much easier for me and I really appreciate the effort you put into these videos. Have a good one :D

"Florida is highly unusual" - truer words have never been spoken. Published: April 9, 2019, 4:25 PM Florida man threatens to destroy everyone... with army of turtles

Thanks for the great content Chloe!

this video was so well detailed!! I really enjoyed it and your structure of videos makes it easy to follow!

great video, as always! the wider context at the start and the little reference to the ghost stories at the end were both really interesting to me!

You do such great work. Glad you did a video on this one.

“Remembered fondly…” Yeah, I’d say that’s accurate. I took a couple of flights on the L1011 when I was a teenager. It was an incredibly quiet, comfortable, and smooth-flying plane. I even got to visit the cockpit and chat with the pilots…very cool experience. I was sad when it got retired. Even though it was a one-off failure for Lockheed, it ended up being a very reliable, safe, and much beloved plane by both passengers and pilots. It’s amazing the level of automation they achieved in the 1970s, but maybe it was too much for an era where automation was limited on every other plane. Thanks for going over this disaster in detail. It was a tragedy, but it’s good that lessons were learned. And thanks for including the ghost story…I heard it many years ago, and found it interesting it wasn’t more well known.

I was just thinking yesterday of requesting this accident be covered on your channel! 😆

100k? You deserve millions!

I worked on the Tristars and they were LIGHT YEARS ahead of the deadly DC-10 with its blow out cargo doors and engine faults! I happily flew many hours on the L-1011 but I would NEVER set foot on the DC-10 let alone FLY in one. Many aircraft have a window into the nose undercarriage bay to visually check the 'flag' has popped up and the gear is locked. This accident was a sad case of 'hyperfocus' on one small lamp.......dropping them into the Everglades.....RIP to all those souls....Dont be too quick to write off the ghost stories! I read many articles and books on this accident and people seeing the 'entities' could describe them PERFECTLY. When asked if they had read books about the crash of 401 most had not even HEARD of this incident! On once occassion Don Repo appeared on a flight that had parts from the lost aircraft on - that aircraft was having problems. Certain actions he indicated to the staff to check - saved the aircraft from going down! Makes you think doesnt it. He was there TO PROTECT. After this appearance he was never seen again - probably now at peace having protected that airframe. He sadly was killed when he went down into the 'hell hole' under the flight deck to visually check the nose undercarriage was locked. When the aircraft hit the ground he had no way of escape......

You're right, this was a good one! Keep up the great work! While I can get early access to your videos through Patreon, I always save them for Saturday morning. I look forward to it.

13:10 I'm confused. Did Eastern Air deny reusing salvageable parts from that crash, or did they deny the ghost stories? I thought the reused parts were a confirmed fact, used to bolster a ghost story: as, as far as I recall anyway, the witness had no idea the galley had been reused from a crashed plane. It's a bit of a misplaced modifier if the former, or dangling modifier if the latter. (Sorry, airplane nerd who grew up with a newspaper reporter as a mom, had corrected grammar hammered into me from the moment of my birth.)

Good, clear, spoken narration. Keep up the good work.

LOVE YOUR VIDEOS!!! i have your notifications on and i anticipate every video!!! surprised you’re only reaching 80k and not 800k with how great these videos are!! watching the evolution of the video production quality has been so satisfying !!! i binged the entire channel as soon as i knew what it was all about

I heard about this accident or Mentour Pilot channel I was waiting on you to make this video 👏🏽

I am fascinated with these stories, mainly because of my fear of heights. But the way you explain the terminology and technology for those of us not aviation lingo smart, in a way we can understand is amazing

I always find this one chilling. The idea that you survive a plane crash only to succumb later to infection. One documentary on this accident I saw said that it was a blessing and a curse (the bacteria filled mud) because it helped staunch bleeding.

Thank you for this video, as always we get treated to top quality content. And by the way, I really like your "story voice".

Luv the channel and the contents of ur videos always a great listen 4 me even tho i cant c the actual videos but i dont need 2 because u give such a great description of everything . Thankyou 😃😃

I love the background music, well done man

I have been waiting for this one for so long Finally

This is truly a tragedy ,amazing work 🥰

recently subsribed your content is top notch, and captivating keep it up

How many airline pilots does it take to change a lightbulb? "Are you flying the plane?" "No, dummy, I'm checking a lightbulb, to see if it needs changing!" "Oh ... OK."

This reminds me of an aviation saying which goes something like don't drop the plane while flying the mic. This disaster over a burnt out bulb. Incandescent bulbs failed regularly back then and while I'm sure these bulbs were superior design and over-rated, a burnt out bulb wouldn't be far fetched. While I realize the desire for caution after testing all bulbs and this one not lighting, they probably should have trusted that it was the bulb or related electrical circuitry at that point. Of course hindsight is 20/20.

Very interesting event👌🏻thanks for uploading Love your channel😁👍🏻👏🏻

Keep up the good work

Valujet Flight 592 crashed about two miles from where Eastern 401 crashed.

I don't know about whisperliner as I use to see, and hear,them going into RAF Brize Norton when I lived in Oxford.I use to go stargazing out in the fields between Oxford and North Hinksey and they would come in along with VC 10's and both where very stentorian.The RAF doesn't use them now and it's some kind of military Airbus variant.

The Everglades is such a beautiful name- I chuckled when you described it as a ”swampy mass”. Very nice to hear your take on this disaster.

I immediately remarked on the auto-landing feature, that would be the most problematic for the time, most airlines at that time didn't have the proper equipment for auto-landing so having it is like having a typewriter in this day and age, almost nobody has the stuff to handle or repair typewriters so once it is broken, you likely can't fix it. luckily though, the auto-land was NOT the issue here, it was the fact they tried repairing a light bulb during landing when they SHOULD HAVE WAITED AND LET THE PROPER PEOPLE HANDLE IT!

"Florida is highly unusual." Chloe, you don't even know the half of it! Florida is so weird!

such an underrated channel

6:01 i have a model of that exact tristar sitting on my desk. love this plane

good work

The reason so many who survived the crash died later or lost limbs was because of where the plane crashed. The Everglades are filled with anaerobic bacteria. Anaerobes do not use oxygen for metabolism. In fact they thrive in places where there is no oxygen and are killed by exposure to oxygen. They are what is behind such illnesses as botulism, tetanus and gas gangrene when they enter a break in the skin. Gangrene attacked many of the survivors. Some were treated by placement in a bariatric chamber where the atmosphere is mostly oxygen. Oxygen kills anaerobes. For those who did not respond to this trwatment, amputation was necessary to save their lives. I have often thought that was the most horrifying thing about this accident.

Great job:)

I remember this crash. So sad. RIP. I pray you've learned to deal with it. 🙏♥️🙏♥️🙏♥️

People were always like 'They used parts from flight 401' I always knew they hadn't thanks for the confirmation. One of the great 'MayDay' episodes this as well! Thanks DB 🛩✈️🛩

If I die on an airplane you better believe I'm gonna haunt every bit of it lol i'm gonna follow the parts, I'm gonna follow the survivors, I'm gonna stay in the Everglades, I'm gonna be all over every single bit of everything lol

One of your best

there's a great older episode of the black box down podcast about this one along with united 173, both lightbulb issues

I love this channel

Yeaaah.... burn patients+swamp water, I don't even want to imagine that crash site.

Mmmmm new upload i liked this when I 1st heard about it

My favorite trijet. Sad that this crash happened

RIP To the 101 passengers and crew of Eastern Air Lines Flight 401

The Boeing 747SP Lockheed L-1011 TriStar McDonnell Douglas DC-10 These are my 3 favorite jet airliners.

You know after watching so many of these videos i value and feel lucky about my flights. When i was 8 (born in 2000) I actually got to enter the cockpit post-911 security stuff (my dad was a high ranking military man which might have something to do with it), and the pilots of my flight were amazing and respectable, as are so many of the pilots in these stories that fight through the impossible.

Another good video. A commenter in another channel made the point how great it was that you and a couple of other channels posted today. I added to it that Mentour Pilot also did a video today. It was about the Linate Airport disaster. Quite the day, indeed. I have a favor to ask you: please do not use background music. It overwhelms your dialogue. I know that some creators use music during their videos, but when one is trying to watch and listen to technical items, I at least, find my brain trying to listen to both the music and the dialogue. Of course, I could use the CC function, but then one can have the funny experience of reading 'vermont' instead of 'Wehrmacht.' That happened the other day during a history video. I mentioned it to the poster as I know he didn't type it; he got a kick out of it too. I don't mind the music at the end when you're rolling your credits and such. But as I said, during the actual presentation, just your voice would be great. Thank you.

This is one of three air disasters that were in Florida, that were featured on the show Mayday/ Air Disaster, there is also a great movie and book on the subject of flight 401

Will you do TWA flight 800?

The swampy water Also actually saved a lot people by plugging up their wounds long enough for help to arrive.

That part about the ghosts was cool

The bulb wasn't the cause of the crash, but it started a deadly chain of events that ultimately allowed the pilots to put too much faith in their instruments; mainly the autopilot. Also, they weren't familiar with the intricacies of the autopilot. Very sad, and spooky too. It's the only ghost sighting which was witnessed by many different people who were unknown to each other at the same time in broad daylight in a confined space! Amazing and hard to refute.

The recently deceased astronaut Frank Borman was VP-Operations at Eastern at the time. He described this crash and the aftermath in his autobiography, "Countdown".

Is it any wonder why I chose not to fly.....watching these great videos for entertainment! Love disaster breakdown. Peace be unto you.

Garuda Indonesia Flight 200 Next Please!

ohhh yeaaaaahhhhhh i remember seeing a vid on the ghost stories. turns out they were all made up. There was no part harvesting done. There was ONE GUY who made up all these stories in a spooky book he wrote, and the airline considered suing him because he made up the stories about them firing employees (or threatening to fire them), but they decided it wasn't worth causing a fuss about it and giving him attention.

I think this crash was my first crash I ever knew, Just coming back to it feels good.

What flight simulator you use?

I guess there actually is a good reason to wake up before 8am on a Saturday.

HS Trident was the first plane which was able to land automatically, not Lockheed Tristar

can you do the comet crashes next?

To think that a simple camera system with a built in spotlight aimed at the landing gears & fed to a screen on the flightdeck would solve this issue. Do modern jets have this? Excellent video as always.

Modern air lines have ground proximity warnings and terrain warnings so in theory this should never happen again, in theory.

Here I am watching this video on the 50th anniversary of the incident…

In my opinion. The Lockheed L1011 was the best civil airliner ever constructed by anyone ! It was years ahead if it,s time. Unfortunately Lockheed never built another civil airliner after the L1011 Tristar series. 🙂🙂

I know this is not a accident but can you do that Cayman Airways flight with a fire warning in the cargo hold ?

I worked on 311EA all of the time!

I heard that there was a miss match between the auto pilot captain and copilot display.

Jeeze how loud do you have to make a warning alarm?

How could all the crew NOT hear the warning alarm that they were dropping? Also, it was mentioned that a window was in the lowerdeck so they could see the landing gear. It was night, but they might have seen whether the nosegear wss down

I think Mentor Pilot made a video on this one too

Have you read the book about the ghosts of flight 401 on other planes using parts salvaged from the crashed flight 401 plane

Isn’t it strange how some airliners never really became popular despite all the latest tech and comfort for its day

Not so long ago here, Miami. There was a plane that the landing gear failed to Come out