____________________________________ This is a short account of the night of 29-Dec-72 when Eastern Airlines flight 401 crashed in the Everglades I was a Hospital Corpsman stationed at Coast Guard Station Miami Beach and was assigned to Richard Nixons Presidential Security Detail. I was on duty that night watching Johnny Carson in the sickbay, when I got a phone call at about 11:40 from the Officer Of the Day telling me to get my gear together and standby because Miami International may have lost an airplane. About two minutes later the OOD called back telling me to go to Opla Locka Airport, and catch a helicopter out to the crash site. It took me about ten minutes to drive across town. They escorted me to a helicopter and gave me a flight helmet. As I sat down and strapped in, the door opened up and a man walked in wearing full flight gear complete with helmet. He said Im glad you could make it
.it turned out to be the physician I worked for, Dr. Harvey Zalaznick. We left the airport and was the second helicopter to arrive at the crash site. They circled the area then dropped me off on a levee. As I stepped off of the levee into the water I heard something scurry off to my right. So figuring that what ever it was didnt need my help
. I went left. The water was only about ankle to knee deep with the saw grass being anywhere from knee high to waist high. Dr Z and I worked as a team most of the night. It seems as if every time I turned around someone was saying to me Hey, give your flashlight for a minute Well that was the last time I saw that light, I lost two before catching on to the game. Most of the night was a blur with a few incidents that stand out. The first was: You always hear the saying of Im going to knock you naked, well I finally saw evidence of that. The force of the crash was so bad. When we picked up a fairly rotund lady, that had a large three corner tear to her right leg, her panty hose were down around her ankles. A very bizarre sight. Second was: Dr. Z and I were walking though the saw grass with him being in the lead. Suddenly he bent over saying Whats this, this doesnt belong out here He then picked up a white toy poodle. It turns out that an older lady had carried her puppy dog onto the plane instead of checking it as cargo. I dont think the lady lived, but Im not too sure. Dr. Z gave the dog to one of the flight crew who I think was given credit for saving it in the movie. The third was: In the midst of the carnage and wreckage was a section of three seats sitting up right in the water with a man still strapped in, very peaceful, as if sleeping, his tie still neatly tied, three piece suit neatly draped. I checked for a pulse and not finding one, left. But the image is still very vivid. The fourth was: We were using a piece of the wing to keep the people dry and out of the water until they could be evacuated. It was about 3:00 am and I was putting a splint on a ladys arm with another lady laying next to her. Someone else carried over a little girl and laid her next to the second lady. She suddenly began to scream out crying that it was her daughter which she had not seen through out the whole ordeal. It was very heart warming. The fifth was: In the morning around 7:00 or so. The other corpsmen and myself were becoming less and less important as more professional personnel arrived. After all, what does a 21 year old with 6 months training and 2 years experience have to offer when physicians with 20 years experience are on the scene? So we got a cup of coffee and a doughnut from the Red Cross and a blanket from Eastern Airlines and laid down on the side of the levee. One of the other corpsman carried the flight helmet, that was given to him earlier that evening, all night. So he laid it down next to him. We all curled up under the blankets to take a nap and wait for an empty helicopter to give us a lift back to the Air Base. When I got home I turned on the television to see what the news was saying. After awhile they showed a scene taken from the air. The news commentator was saying Here we are showing the crash scene with several of the fatalities. They then showed a close up of several bodies under blankets, and there laying by one of the bodies, was a flight helmet. So my 15 minutes of fame in this life was being a fatality in an airplane crash.
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