--Previous Message--
: The following first hand account was passed to
: me by a rescue worker who was there that
: night. I have withheld the person's name.
:
: ____________________________________
:
: 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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