A night I will never forget.
Posted by Matt on July 24, 2006, 3:26 pm
Although I was not an Eastern employee, I was employed by their competitor, National airlines. The night of Dec. 29th, 1972, I was working the ticket counter. National had a 9PM departure also, Flt.601. It was a 747-100, affectionately called "Fat Albert". At about 8:35PM, several people arrived at the counter seeking to get seats on NA601. I checked and was informed the flight was sold out and there were a large number of "stand-by`s" waiting at the gate area. I then checked the other two carriers serving Mia, Eastern and Delta. I was able to book those people on Eastern 401. Because of the tight timing, I asked and was granted permission by my Station manager to use the courtesy car and drive them over to the Eastern terminal. I did so, and to the best of my knowledge, they all made the flt. I got off duty at 11:30 PM and when I got in my car at the employees parking lot, I turned on the radio and first heard a news bulletin stating that a "jumbo" jet from JFK to MIA had crashed in the everglades. When I heard the phrase "jumbo" my immediate thought was that it was National`s 747. As I drove home, the news announcer then mentioned that it was an Eastern aircraft involved in the crash. I`m not usually the emotional type, but I pulled off the VanWyck expressway, stopped the car and cried. The faces of those passengers I had driven over to Eastern and 401 were very fresh on my mind. I never really got their names because of the timing and I left that detail to the Eastern ticket agent. All I made sure of was that he held those seats. I did not sleep much that night, and the memories of that fateful evening still live in my mind. I have read the books, seen the films and still think about that night. For quite a while after that, I felt somewhat responsible for the fate of those anonymous passengers. I don`t know if any survived or all perished, but seeing this site gives me, I hope, an opportunity to offer my deepest condolences to the families of both the passengers and crew lost that night.
|