EASTER AIR LINES
FLIGHT 401
MEMORIAL PROJECT
On December 29, 1972 Eastern Air
Lines Flight 401 from New York, NY to Miami, FL crashed into the Florida
Everglades killing 101 aboard.
The Flight 401 Tribute Group requested my services in
2009 to assist them in their fund raising efforts. Having met many of those
that miraculously survided Flight 401, some of which are pictured below, I
can't begin to tell you how honored I am to be involved in such an effort.
We will be updating this site continuously to bring you up-to-date information
on the Group's progress to building a memorial dedicated to those whose lives
were lost or touched by EAL 401. Also below please find some of the images
of my design for the Eastern Air Lines model created as a tribute to the victims
of Flight 401 which were provided to the Group in time for their 38th Anniversary
on December 29, 2010.
The
plane itself is a tribute to all the passengers of Eastern flight 401, both
fatalities and survivors. There are 101 flowers painted on this aircraft to
symbolize the lives lost in this fatal crash. The very first flower which is
on the nose tip of the aircraft is in honor of Mr. Robert (Bud) Marquis who
became a friend, the hero on the night and into the following morning of the
crash. From that point on, all the flowers (passengers) are connected by a green
vine that symbolizes the fate shared by all the passengers on this flight that
evening. You will notice that there are seven flowers painted one wing and five
on the other. This represents the 75 surviving passengers whose lives were miraculously
spared and able to walk away from this horrific accident. Initially there were
77, but unfortunately 2 died shortly thereafter leaving the number at 75. The
rings you see on the underbelly center of the aircraft represent the day 100
airboats were lead by Robert (Bud) Marquis to the crash site for memorial services
on Dec. 29th, 2007. On this day the airboats formed a circle around the crash
site with the survivors themselves in the center as they honored the lives lost.
They dropped flowers into the waters which as we know create rings that extend
in an outward motion from its center point like a drop of water in a still pond.
The two shades of blues surrounding all of this represents the evening of Dec.
29th, 1972, the night of this terrible incident and next morning as more people
came to help save the remaining victims and to retrieve the casualties from
the site. It also represents the sky above and the waters below just moments
before the crash.
