Thirty-seven years after they huddled together in the Everglades waiting for rescuers, survivors of the horrific crash of Eastern Airlines Flight 401 have reunited for another common mission:
They want to build a public memorial for the 101 passengers and crew who died in one of South Florida's worst air disasters on Dec. 29, 1972, a crash that occurred within sight of Miami International Airport.
After years of privately honoring the dead, a handful of the flight's 75 survivors say they have become consumed with leaving behind a remembrance of those who died in the first crash of a jumbo jet.
The victims of another Everglades crash, that of ValuJet Flight 592 in 1996, have a memorial in their honor on the edge of the famed swamp.
''Why not a memorial to our horrible crash and our victims?'' said former Eastern Airlines flight attendant Beverly Raposa, 62, of Sunrise, one of the survivors eager to see the memorial built.
The group of survivors already have contracted two local architects, Bruce Brockhouse and Associates and partner Al Naranjo, who have designed a walk-through memorial and museum exhibit, which the group hopes to place on the grounds of MIA. (Go to www.flight401.com or ealflt401.blogspot.com to learn more of their plans.)
full article here
crash simulation video
They want to build a public memorial for the 101 passengers and crew who died in one of South Florida's worst air disasters on Dec. 29, 1972, a crash that occurred within sight of Miami International Airport.
After years of privately honoring the dead, a handful of the flight's 75 survivors say they have become consumed with leaving behind a remembrance of those who died in the first crash of a jumbo jet.
The victims of another Everglades crash, that of ValuJet Flight 592 in 1996, have a memorial in their honor on the edge of the famed swamp.
''Why not a memorial to our horrible crash and our victims?'' said former Eastern Airlines flight attendant Beverly Raposa, 62, of Sunrise, one of the survivors eager to see the memorial built.
The group of survivors already have contracted two local architects, Bruce Brockhouse and Associates and partner Al Naranjo, who have designed a walk-through memorial and museum exhibit, which the group hopes to place on the grounds of MIA. (Go to www.flight401.com or ealflt401.blogspot.com to learn more of their plans.)
full article here
crash simulation video
