The Story of the Plane That Crashed Because of a $10 Lightbulb

Late 1972 in aviation history It was the scene of an unforgettable tragedy.

A problem with the landing gear will present the crew with an unexpected challenge and The strangest plane crashes ever He would have his name written among them.

At the wheel of the plane was Captain Robert Albin Loft, an experienced pilot.

As the plane approached the airport, the crew; He had lowered the landing gear stick to the down position. Because the landing gear indicator does not light up It showed that the nose gear was not lowered.

The captain rotated the landing gear to see if this would solve the problem, but No matter how hard he tried, the light still wouldn’t come on. Naturally, the captain wasn’t sure whether the landing gear was locked or not.

Two minutes later, the captain spoke to the tower and requested to enter a holding pattern to stop the descent.

Tower; Ascending to Flight 401, Climbing 2000 ft plateau and told the crew to give him a frequency to make contact.

Seconds after confirming the instructions, the flight engineer He had asked the captain to test the lights.

The flight engineer lights up everything in the cockpit to see if the bulbs are working. conducted a test called “Christmas tree” but the test had failed.

As the plane moved away from Miami, visibility dropped to zero.

The First Officer managed to dislodge the nose landing gear indicator lamp, but It was difficult to replace it.

Later, a situation occurred where the plane entered an unnoticed descent process and the altitude warning systems were activated. However crew ignored warnings and the descent continued.

First mate, in the dark outside He stated that he could not see the landing gear.. Meanwhile, the captain realized that he had forgotten to turn on the external lights illuminating the landing gear.

When instructions were received to return to Miami airport, flight control noticed that the aircraft was at a lower altitude than expected.

As the crew was returning to the airport, the First Officer noticed the low altitude and asked the captain if the plane was still at altitude. There was a disagreement.

Unfortunately, at this time the plane entered a gradual descent and crashed into the Florida Everglades. Only 75 of 175 people survived in this tragic accident.

As a matter of fact, Eastern Airlines Flight 401 is one of the most important events in aviation history. a major turning point remained as.

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