Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 was a scheduled flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York, to Miami International Airport in Miami, Florida. Shortly before midnight on December 29, 1972, the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar crashed into the Florida Everglades. All three cockpit crew members, two of the ten flight attendants, and 96 of the 163 passengers were killed. 75 people survived, with 58 of them suffering serious injuries.
The crash is believed to have been caused by a subtle bump of the yoke on the aircraft, causing it to switch the autopilot from altitude hold mode, to Control Wheel Steering mode, causing the aircraft to begin a descent. Due to the focus on the landing gear and the minimal changes in the cockpit, the pilots did not notice. Because of this, the aircraft gradually lost altitude and crashed. This was the first hull loss and fatal crash of a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar. The aircraft was fleet number 310, and the tenth TriStar delivered to the carrier.
As Stockstill started another turn, onto 180°, he noticed the discrepancy. The following conversation was recovered from the flight voice recorder later: