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Of ghosts and crashes

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mark blake

Every once in a while comes along an illogical, unbelievable story which demands that rational thought be put aside.

I had not heard about the "Ghost of Flight 401” till last week. Then early this month, the news of Dubai-Pune Air India Express flight which plunged dangerously over the Arabian sea broke out and the industry veterans did a spirited recall of ghost flights of the early ’70s. I’ve never heard about ghosts of dead pilots suddenly making appearances in cockpits to warn the incumbent commanders about impending technical problems. But then, don’t we all know, that in the aviation industry, anything goes.

Now, there have been many incidents/accidents in the past involving diving aircraft — some like AI Express B737 did dramatic descents, while in other cases the descent rate was so gradual that it went unnoticed. None, however, kept an entire nation riveted like the events that followed the Eastern Airlines December 29, 1972, crash of flight 401. A Lockheed L-1011 Tristar jet crashed into the swamps of Florida Everglades killing 101 passengers and crew. The aircraft’s autopilot disengaged during a go-around and the jet began a slow descent only to eventually plough into the swamp and crash. Captain Robert Loft, 55, was the commander, who was in the cockpit along with first officer Capt Albert Stockstill. The flight engineer Donald Repo was in the avionics bay to check on a landing gear problem. The aircrash investigation report said the crew got distracted with the undercarriage problem and failed to monitor flight instruments.

It was the first jet air crash in the US history and the sheer magnitude of casualties stunned the nation and its airline industry. What then followed was utterly unbelievable — pilots and engineers of Eastern Air Lines began reporting paranormal activities. According to John G Fuller’s "The Ghost of Flight 401”, the first book to be written on the crash and the events thereafter, these were not random sightings. The commander and flight engineer who died did make appearances, but only on those Eastern Airlines Lockheed Tristars which were fitted with spare parts cannibalised from the wreckage of that crash.

It was believed that the ghost of Capt Loft appeared in the cockpit before a take-off from an airport in Mexico and warned the commander of an engine failure, which eventually did take place. In another case, flight engineer, Repo’s spirit appears next to a flight engineer during a flight and tells him that the aircraft is going to face a pressurisation problem. This time again, the warning comes true. The crash and its ghosts also inspired two movies. You can imagine the buzz all of this would have generated.

 

Thanks!

 

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