Customer Reviews

The Crash Of Flight 401 [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I had seen this when it came out as a made for TV movie many years ago, and rewatching it recently made me realize what a horrible production it really is. I am an airline pilot, and have flown the L-1011 (and dearly love it), so it is natural that I would be able to nitpick technical material in the film. I am not going to do so, as most people wouldn't care about the technical details of airline operations, anyway. My only caveat is that nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, about the film from an aviation perspective is even remotely correct.

I can deal with the technical inaccuracies if the remainder of the story is well crafted, and attempts to be true to the historical events, but I recommend that you heed well the disclaimer at the beginning of the film that certain aspects of the film have been fictionalized. I will certainly say that they have. It basically becomes a soap opera in a swamp. A very large portion of the film is told in flashback and concerns who is pregnant, who is having an affair with whom, the flight attendant, oops, I'm sorry, stewardess who is afraid to fly, etc. Even if these situations existed onboard Eastern 401 it hardly impacts the story of the crash, which is ostensibly the subject of the film.

All that leads up to the films biggest over the top departure from reality: William Shatner. Shatner plays an NTSB investigator (who is actually seen performing mostly FAA duties, but I digress) who has to solve the case. Unfortunately he doesn't have Spock along to help out with the case, though he ends up being the hero in the end, and gets to chew a lot of scenery in the process. Eddie Albert also stars as the plane's Captain, though for some reason they changed his character name to "Dunn" from the real Captain's name (Bob Loft). I have always liked Eddie Albert, but apparently his only direction in this film was to be a cranky old codger. Also notable is 'Barney Miller' regular Ron Glass as a buyer for a department store who basically wanders around the swamp in a happy delirium after the accident. Of course shock can make episodes like this happen, but I was less than convinced by the performance here.

I gave the film two stars, which is fairly generous, but I have such a soft spot for the L-1011 that I can't bear to give it only one. The crash is an interesting story, and in real life has become the definitive teaching example in Cockpit Resource Management (CRM) classes. Ultimately, the accident occurred due to everybody in the cockpit being absorbed with a minor light bulb malfunction, and leaving the airplane to its own devices with nobody flying the plane. It is worth seeing just to see some great shots of L-1011's flying around. A better film on the same crash which is a bit more realistic (up through the crash anyway) is "The Ghost of Flight 401" starring Ernest Borgnine. If you get the opportunity, try that one, it covers the crash and the paranormal aspect that was detailed in the John Fuller book, if you are interested in that angle.

For those of us who loved the book, this movie is very much worth watching. However, there is no mention of the ghosts which is disappointing. It is sometimes scary, because you get to re-live the crash and see & feel what the crew went through.

I remember watching is movie when it first came to TV. Infact, I was 6 years old when this actually happened. Even though Crash of Flight 401 was a tragety, it is a great movie to watch.

I have never been so quickly satisfied by a product as my VHS movie "The Crash of Flight 401". The movie came to my house at least a week before the printed arrival date. The movie has no flaws whatsoever. I will keep on purchasing items on Amazon.com for as long as my satisfaction stays at a high level.

This book is about the ghostly encounters from the flight crew of Eastern Airlines Flight 401 that crashed in 1972, in the Florida Everglades . There were 101 people killed in the crash, most were killed immediately but a few died a little later of their injuries.

The airline salvaged the galley equipment from the plane. I know this is a fact because the infrared oven on Flight 401 was made by my ex husband's former company, Foster Refrigerator (formerly of Hudson, New York). The salvaged infrered oven was cleaned, tested and reinstalled in a new airplane that was built.

In 1982, my teenage son was working a summer clean-up detail for my ex-husband at the Foster plant in Hudson. In the far end of the then mostly deserted plant, my son found some old equipment and covered in wood, plastic and tarps; a new looking infrared oven. Since, I had tested a prototype home version of their infrared oven with much success; my son came home and suggested I get my husband to bring the unit home for me to use.

When I told to my ex-husband that my son had found an infrared oven in the warehouse and asked if he could he bring it home for me; I was told the incredulous story of Flight 401 and the haunting of the newer plane that utilized the scavenged oven from Flight 401. Of course, I did not believe the story and thought my ex was just making excuses not to bring the oven home or trying to pull a joke on me. I called my best friend, whose husband was corporate treasurer of Foster Refrigerator. She had never heard the story but they had only been married a year. When her husband came home she asked him about the oven in the warehouse; without saying anything else. Her husband then told her the same exact story about the oven and the hauntings that my husband had told me.

Although, then CEO of Eastern, Frank Borman, wanted everyone to belive the ghost stories were Cr*p and a bunch of lies; the truth is that the stories of the two dead pilots from Flight 401 haunting the new plane were completely true.

Eventually, (after several sightings of the pilot and co-pilot from flight 401 on the newer plane)the Foster infrared oven was pulled off the plane when three flight attendants saw the ghostly pilot in the oven while they were trying to serve a meal to passengers. They called the pilot of the plane and he also saw the apparition too and at that point Eastern got rid of the oven.

I do not know if the book mentions what happened to the oven but the oven was removed from the plane and sent back to Foster, where it sat in a remote part of the warehouse, covered up and unused for many years thereafter. I am certain no one ever used the oven again.

I think it is key to remember here that this was an infrared oven and if you recall most ghostly activites recorded by researchers involve infrared technology. Something about infrared and ghosts.......something bizarre, supernatural and totally true.

I am consistanly amazed how stupid people are. BOOOOO! Ghost will get you, and so will the fairy god mother!

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