The First Ever Jumbo Jet Crash | Fatal Distraction | Mayday: Air Disaster

PART 1 | December 29, 1972 — Eastern Airlines Flight 401 is preparing to land in Miami. 163 passengers are on board the sophisticated new L-1011 jet. When the crew try to lower their landing gear, only two of three indicator lights turn green. The crew can’t be sure their landing gear is locked. Without confirmation, it would be dangerous to land. Captain Robert Loft decides to circle away from the airport and troubleshoot the problem. The auto-pilot is programmed to keep the plane circling at 2,000 feet. Freed from the task of flying, all three crew members focus their attention on the faulty indicator.

But in the Miami Tower, the controller notices something unusual – Flight 401 is no longer flying at 2,000 feet, it’s down to 900. He radios the crew but it’s too late to pull up. The jet crashes into a remote part of the Florida Everglades. 101 people die, but incredibly 77 survive. Many are badly wounded and Alligators lurk nearby. It takes almost an hour for the Coast Guard to find the remote crash site and begin ferrying survivors to nearby hospitals.

So why had the state of the art jetliner fallen from the sky?

From Season 5 Episode 9 “Fatal Distraction”: Eastern Airlines Flight 401 (Lockheed Tristar L-1011) Eastern Airlines Flight 401 is coming in for a landing in Miami. The crew have three green lights confirming that their landing gear is locked, but they only have two. Captain Robert Loft decides to have the autopilot fly the plane in a holding pattern while he and his crew work to fix the problem. None of them notices that the plane is slowly falling to the ground until it’s too late. The brand new L-1011 slams into the remote swamp-land of the Florida Everglades. Miraculously 77 people survive the crash. Investigators determined that the plane was mechanically sound, and its autopilot was working. The clues would lead investigators to a very troubling cause.

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