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: 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.
:
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