On the morning of Friday, Dec. 29 I boarded an Eastern L1011 and flew to NYC. I met a friend from Atlanta there and we were going to spend the long weekend in the city and celebrate the New Year in Times Square. The next morning when we awoke, my friend went down to the lobby to get a newspaper and see what was going on and I was very surprised when he returned and told me there were no newspapers left at the stand. Then he started delaying, stalling and taking his time about leaving our hotel room. Finally, exasperated, I said that I was going out as I was not about to spend my few days in NYC in a hotel room. Little did I know that my friend was trying to keep me from me the news that flight 401, on which I was booked to return to Miami on Monday the 1st had crashed in the Everglades.
It was not an easy weekend to get through. Always a white-nuckled flyer, this tragedy was too close for comfort. Finally, Monday arrived and I had to face the dreaded flight home. I remember that Eastern's L1011's back then had a sort of bar at the rear of the plane on the coach section. I asked for a seat by the bar and was told that the plane we were flying was not an L1011. When I said that I always flew flight 401 and it had been an L1011 for almost half a year I was told that unfortunately, since the crash they were minus one plane. I believe we flew on a DC-8. I found myself sitting next to a young couple who had been booked on flt. 401 the night it crashed but had at the last minute decided to stay in the city for New Year's. All three of us were very nervous. A few drinks helped the 2 1/2 hour flight pass faster.
I flew flight 401 many times after that. It was a very convenient 9pm direct flight to Miami out of Kennedy airport. Although I was always a little nervous, I never had the slightest mishap and I certainly never saw any of the ghosts so many claim haunted some of the L1011's.
My sympathy to those who lost loved ones on flight 401 and to the survivors. "There but for the Grace of God..."
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