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The Ghost of Flight 401
It takes more than whimsy for a giant airline to ground a multimillion-dollar jumbo jet. What the renowned investigative writer John Fuller stumbled upon was a jet-age ghost story – crews wouldn’t fly the plane because of the reappearing apparitions of a dead pilot and flight engineer from a crashed sister ship. It was the famed Lockheed Tristar; the first jumbo jet ever to crash, in the Florida Everglades, with the loss of 101 persons.
In his investigation into this amazing story, John G. Fuller is led inexorably not only to repeated eyewitness experiences of the dead men’s reappearances before flight crews, but also to his own personal conviction of a spiritual immortality, of life after death.
Fuller’s book is a true-life suspense thriller. After a classic reconstruction of the mysterious crash itself, Fuller interviews scores of airlines flight personnel and explores every facet of every “ghost” report. A rigorous skeptic who has always written with professional thoroughness on both scientific subjects and subjects on the frontiers of life, Fuller uncovers startling evidence of contact with the spirit of the dead flight engineer Don Repo. It is a spine-tingling, persuasive account with implications of spiritual realities that are of increasing interest in today’s world of ever more extraordinary scientific breakthroughs.
In his investigation into this amazing story, John G. Fuller is led inexorably not only to repeated eyewitness experiences of the dead men’s reappearances before flight crews, but also to his own personal conviction of a spiritual immortality, of life after death.
Fuller’s book is a true-life suspense thriller. After a classic reconstruction of the mysterious crash itself, Fuller interviews scores of airlines flight personnel and explores every facet of every “ghost” report. A rigorous skeptic who has always written with professional thoroughness on both scientific subjects and subjects on the frontiers of life, Fuller uncovers startling evidence of contact with the spirit of the dead flight engineer Don Repo. It is a spine-tingling, persuasive account with implications of spiritual realities that are of increasing interest in today’s world of ever more extraordinary scientific breakthroughs.
279 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 1, 1976
146 people are currently reading
938 people want to read
About the author
John G. Fuller
33 books36 followersJohn Grant Fuller, Jr. (1913 - 1990) was a New England-based American author of several non-fiction books and newspaper articles, mainly focusing on the theme of extra-terrestrials and the supernatural. For many years he wrote a regular column for the Saturday Review magazine, called "Trade Winds". His three most famous books were The Ghost of Flight 401, Incident at Exeter, and The Interrupted Journey.
The Ghost of Flight 401 was based on the tragic Eastern Air Lines airplane crash in December 1972, and the alleged supernatural events which followed; it was eventually turned into a popular 1978 made-for-television movie.
Incident at Exeter concerned a series of well-publicized UFO sightings in and around the town of Exeter, New Hampshire in the fall of 1965 (see the Exeter incident). Fuller personally investigated the sightings and interviewed many of the eyewitnesses, he also claimed to have seen a UFO himself during his investigation.
The Interrupted Journey tells the story of the Betty and Barney Hill abduction. The Hills were a married couple who claimed to have been abducted in 1961 by the occupants of a UFO in the White Mountains of New Hampshire while returning home from a vacation. The book was the first to seriously claim that competent, reliable witnesses were being abducted by UFOs for medical and scientific experiments. The book remains one of the most influential in UFO history; and has been hotly debated since its publication. Like The Ghost of Flight 401, The Interrupted Journey was also turned into a made-for-television movie in 1975.
Fuller wrote The Great Soul Trial (1969) about the disappearance of Arizona Miner James Kidd and the later trial regarding his will, which left his fortune to anyone who could prove the existence of the human soul. The book was published prior to the final resolution of the case in 1971.
John was also married to a NorthWest flight Attendant who was the researcher mentioned in his book "Ghost of Flight 401" His book We Almost Lost Detroit deals with a serious accident at the Fermi nuclear power plant near Detroit. The book title was later the title of a song by Gil Scott-Heron on the No Nukes live album recorded by the Musicians United for Safe Energy.
He wrote two plays -- The Pink Elephant, which opened in 1953, and Love Me Little, which opened in 1958, both on Broadway.
His most important book was the fictional novel We Almost Lost Detroit. There is a song by Gil Scott-Heron, same title.
Fuller died of lung cancer in 1990.
The Ghost of Flight 401 was based on the tragic Eastern Air Lines airplane crash in December 1972, and the alleged supernatural events which followed; it was eventually turned into a popular 1978 made-for-television movie.
Incident at Exeter concerned a series of well-publicized UFO sightings in and around the town of Exeter, New Hampshire in the fall of 1965 (see the Exeter incident). Fuller personally investigated the sightings and interviewed many of the eyewitnesses, he also claimed to have seen a UFO himself during his investigation.
The Interrupted Journey tells the story of the Betty and Barney Hill abduction. The Hills were a married couple who claimed to have been abducted in 1961 by the occupants of a UFO in the White Mountains of New Hampshire while returning home from a vacation. The book was the first to seriously claim that competent, reliable witnesses were being abducted by UFOs for medical and scientific experiments. The book remains one of the most influential in UFO history; and has been hotly debated since its publication. Like The Ghost of Flight 401, The Interrupted Journey was also turned into a made-for-television movie in 1975.
Fuller wrote The Great Soul Trial (1969) about the disappearance of Arizona Miner James Kidd and the later trial regarding his will, which left his fortune to anyone who could prove the existence of the human soul. The book was published prior to the final resolution of the case in 1971.
John was also married to a NorthWest flight Attendant who was the researcher mentioned in his book "Ghost of Flight 401" His book We Almost Lost Detroit deals with a serious accident at the Fermi nuclear power plant near Detroit. The book title was later the title of a song by Gil Scott-Heron on the No Nukes live album recorded by the Musicians United for Safe Energy.
He wrote two plays -- The Pink Elephant, which opened in 1953, and Love Me Little, which opened in 1958, both on Broadway.
His most important book was the fictional novel We Almost Lost Detroit. There is a song by Gil Scott-Heron, same title.
Fuller died of lung cancer in 1990.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 92 reviews
September 26, 2017
Draw your own conclusions
Perhaps the main point to make at the outset is that this book is not a documentary-style report of Flight 401 and surrounding paranormal phenomena, but rather an autobiographical account of the author’s personal journey of investigating these events. As such, the reader is first introduced to the author’s life at the time he first heard about the paranormal events, namely from a stewardess on an international flight, and his subsequent curiosity as well as doubts.
This is not an entertaining ghost story, nor was it meant to be, and it is, in fact, an all-round challenging subject. In describing his own initial scepticism and disbelief, the author shows the normal thought processes of most people when confronted with the paranormal. Questions such as: ‘is this a credible witness?’ and ‘if it’s true, then does it mean there is life after death?’ How does this new knowledge harmonise with my belief system thus far? If a person is religious, then how does the paranormal fit into one’s view of the world? All these questions and more are weighed and thrown about throughout the book as the author slowly plods his way through the research process.
After an initial introduction to the author’s work and experience with unusual, controversial subjects thus far, the book describes the crash of flight 401 at considerable length. The author re-enacts the conversations in the cockpit prior to the crash, taken from the cockpit voice recorder which was available to him from the FAA. Some readers might find this section boring if not interested in planes and cockpit procedures, especially since there is nothing unusual or paranormal about the crash itself.
The process of finding the witnesses who claim to have seen apparitions on similar planes after the crash was not easy for the author since most members of the flight crews were afraid to speak of their experiences, lest they were sent to a psychiatrist and risked losing their job. Nevertheless, the author succeeded in speaking to several key witnesses, and he describes his impression of these individuals, namely intelligent, well-balanced, technically-minded professionals (ie, not the ‘kooks’ one would generally expect to have seen ghosts)
As his investigations continue, he ends up using an Ouija board to attempt communication with one of the pilots who was seen most often in planes of the same airline as the crashed plane. The communication he receives becomes quite astonishing, and appears to be the final definite proof he was searching for, but the reader is still hearing things second-hand and thereby left with questions.
Whatever each individual reader takes away from this book, the facts are that even though Eastern Airlines never made an official statement acknowledging the many sightings and experiences of its crew, the management must have taken it seriously because they authorized the removal of cannibalised parts from the planes which experienced the paranormal phenomena. It was generally believed that the apparitions were connected to the parts taken from the crashed plane, since the phenomena occurred only in the sister planes that received these parts – such as food-heating ovens in the lower deck galleys where one of the pilots was most frequently seen.
This fact was mentioned briefly in the book, but the author’s experience with mediums and the Ouija board give a different outcome and reason for the cessation of apparitions and paranormal phenomena on the planes. Every reader can draw their own conclusions after reading all the available material in this book.
Perhaps the main point to make at the outset is that this book is not a documentary-style report of Flight 401 and surrounding paranormal phenomena, but rather an autobiographical account of the author’s personal journey of investigating these events. As such, the reader is first introduced to the author’s life at the time he first heard about the paranormal events, namely from a stewardess on an international flight, and his subsequent curiosity as well as doubts.
This is not an entertaining ghost story, nor was it meant to be, and it is, in fact, an all-round challenging subject. In describing his own initial scepticism and disbelief, the author shows the normal thought processes of most people when confronted with the paranormal. Questions such as: ‘is this a credible witness?’ and ‘if it’s true, then does it mean there is life after death?’ How does this new knowledge harmonise with my belief system thus far? If a person is religious, then how does the paranormal fit into one’s view of the world? All these questions and more are weighed and thrown about throughout the book as the author slowly plods his way through the research process.
After an initial introduction to the author’s work and experience with unusual, controversial subjects thus far, the book describes the crash of flight 401 at considerable length. The author re-enacts the conversations in the cockpit prior to the crash, taken from the cockpit voice recorder which was available to him from the FAA. Some readers might find this section boring if not interested in planes and cockpit procedures, especially since there is nothing unusual or paranormal about the crash itself.
The process of finding the witnesses who claim to have seen apparitions on similar planes after the crash was not easy for the author since most members of the flight crews were afraid to speak of their experiences, lest they were sent to a psychiatrist and risked losing their job. Nevertheless, the author succeeded in speaking to several key witnesses, and he describes his impression of these individuals, namely intelligent, well-balanced, technically-minded professionals (ie, not the ‘kooks’ one would generally expect to have seen ghosts)
As his investigations continue, he ends up using an Ouija board to attempt communication with one of the pilots who was seen most often in planes of the same airline as the crashed plane. The communication he receives becomes quite astonishing, and appears to be the final definite proof he was searching for, but the reader is still hearing things second-hand and thereby left with questions.
Whatever each individual reader takes away from this book, the facts are that even though Eastern Airlines never made an official statement acknowledging the many sightings and experiences of its crew, the management must have taken it seriously because they authorized the removal of cannibalised parts from the planes which experienced the paranormal phenomena. It was generally believed that the apparitions were connected to the parts taken from the crashed plane, since the phenomena occurred only in the sister planes that received these parts – such as food-heating ovens in the lower deck galleys where one of the pilots was most frequently seen.
This fact was mentioned briefly in the book, but the author’s experience with mediums and the Ouija board give a different outcome and reason for the cessation of apparitions and paranormal phenomena on the planes. Every reader can draw their own conclusions after reading all the available material in this book.
October 29, 2021
I saw the made for tv version years ago, and it was pretty good. The book is much better and more detailed. Whether you believe the story or not, this is a top notch ghost story. Highly recommend.
November 27, 2010
I have to admit I was a little disappointed with this book. I was already pretty familiar with the details of the crash of Flight 401 and the stories of ghostly manifestations of the crew in jets using equipment salvaged from the crashed plane, and John G. Fuller didn't give me a lot of additional information in this book. Obviously, someone with less knowledge of the subject matter should find the book more fascinating than I did, but I also think the book suffers from the method of presentation Fuller chose to use. I would say that The Ghost of Flight 401 is more about Fuller's experience writing the book than it is about the subject matter in and of itself. In no doubt due partly to the era in which he wrote (ghost stories received much more ridicule in 1976 than they do today), he seems too preoccupied with his credibility. Early on, as he discusses the way in which this book came about, he refers repeatedly to his previous books on such serious matters as nuclear power. Then, toward the end, he takes us on a quick jaunt through some of the more serious and credible scientific theories regarding the possibility of life after death - just before closing the book with what he knows to be the most questionable part of the whole story.
Fuller never really presents the reported ghost stories in any kind of delineated order, merely mentioning them here and there along the way - sandwiched between his own internal debates over the validity of the information and his own ability to believe it. He doesn't let the facts speak for themselves, and that tended to make this a frustrating read for me. At times, I found myself saying OK already - can we get back to the actual story now? I certainly understand his desire to not be labeled some kind of kook, but his preoccupation with his role in the telling of this story does little to help his credibility. The words "Methinks he doth protest too much" cannot help but come to mind.
Fuller's detailed description of the crash of Flight 401 into the Everglades on December 29, 1972 is informative and well-written. His discussion of the difficulty in getting witnesses of the later ghostly manifestations is also timely and germane. Some of the accounts he did manage to get are provocative and significant if true - and therein lies the rub. A lot of the stories Fuller tells us are of the hearsay variety, acquired via third (or more) parties. Obviously knowing that he could offer up no authoritative proof for life after death (which was essentially the overall goal he pursued), I think Fuller struggled with the whole writing process, particularly in terms of how to end the book. That leads him - albeit reluctantly - to ultimately journey outside of his own self-contained box of credibility into the realm of spiritualism. His claims of having communicated with the spirit of Flight 401 flight engineer Don Repo leave him wide open for the skeptical criticism he feared so much. That is not to say it isn't true - and he offers reasons as to why he believes the communication was authentic - but it probably takes this good ghost story a little farther than many readers will be willing to go. I don't know if the definitive account of the ghosts of Flight 401 has been written yet - I just know this isn't it.
Fuller never really presents the reported ghost stories in any kind of delineated order, merely mentioning them here and there along the way - sandwiched between his own internal debates over the validity of the information and his own ability to believe it. He doesn't let the facts speak for themselves, and that tended to make this a frustrating read for me. At times, I found myself saying OK already - can we get back to the actual story now? I certainly understand his desire to not be labeled some kind of kook, but his preoccupation with his role in the telling of this story does little to help his credibility. The words "Methinks he doth protest too much" cannot help but come to mind.
Fuller's detailed description of the crash of Flight 401 into the Everglades on December 29, 1972 is informative and well-written. His discussion of the difficulty in getting witnesses of the later ghostly manifestations is also timely and germane. Some of the accounts he did manage to get are provocative and significant if true - and therein lies the rub. A lot of the stories Fuller tells us are of the hearsay variety, acquired via third (or more) parties. Obviously knowing that he could offer up no authoritative proof for life after death (which was essentially the overall goal he pursued), I think Fuller struggled with the whole writing process, particularly in terms of how to end the book. That leads him - albeit reluctantly - to ultimately journey outside of his own self-contained box of credibility into the realm of spiritualism. His claims of having communicated with the spirit of Flight 401 flight engineer Don Repo leave him wide open for the skeptical criticism he feared so much. That is not to say it isn't true - and he offers reasons as to why he believes the communication was authentic - but it probably takes this good ghost story a little farther than many readers will be willing to go. I don't know if the definitive account of the ghosts of Flight 401 has been written yet - I just know this isn't it.
February 6, 2017
Another DNF. This one was just to depressing to read. Every time I start to read it I think about all those people that died in that plane and it just depresses the hell out of me. Its just so sad.
December 9, 2020
This was a book I had always wanted to read but was afraid too - originally because way back when it came out, it was 'scary stuff', but more recently I hesitated because I was afraid it wouldn't hold up. It did. Bits and pieces feel very dated, but for the most part the book written well enough that you get a great feel for what went on without having it feel unrelatable.
The biggest shocker of the book was definitely the couple chapters that detailed all that happened right after the crash. That part had a huge emotional impact. It was one of the most intense and sad "true story" material I've read in a non-fiction book.
Once the crash and its aftermath is complete, the book switches gears to the investigation of the paranormal sightings. This is entertaining and interesting enough, but disappointing (even for the author) that it was so difficult to find people to go on record about what they saw. Too much of it hearsay from someone who knew someone.
At this point the book again takes a turn, this time into the theories of psychic phenomena/abilities, psychics/mediums and Ouija Boards. While all this ties into one of the repeating specters, the latter half of the book starts sounding like a cross between a boring college text book and the question of how truthful and/or effective mediums truly are. The author reports a lot and eventually tries it out himself, purportedly successfully, but the skepticism remains, how much of this ghost/psychic phenomena is legit. I would have loved for more actual ghost sightings and less philosophical musings, but overall I did enjoy the book.
The biggest shocker of the book was definitely the couple chapters that detailed all that happened right after the crash. That part had a huge emotional impact. It was one of the most intense and sad "true story" material I've read in a non-fiction book.
Once the crash and its aftermath is complete, the book switches gears to the investigation of the paranormal sightings. This is entertaining and interesting enough, but disappointing (even for the author) that it was so difficult to find people to go on record about what they saw. Too much of it hearsay from someone who knew someone.
At this point the book again takes a turn, this time into the theories of psychic phenomena/abilities, psychics/mediums and Ouija Boards. While all this ties into one of the repeating specters, the latter half of the book starts sounding like a cross between a boring college text book and the question of how truthful and/or effective mediums truly are. The author reports a lot and eventually tries it out himself, purportedly successfully, but the skepticism remains, how much of this ghost/psychic phenomena is legit. I would have loved for more actual ghost sightings and less philosophical musings, but overall I did enjoy the book.
August 26, 2017
Published in 1976, this is a fascinating account of the crash and aftermath of Eastern Flight 401 in the Everglades back in 1972. A little over 100 people died in the crash. 77 people managed to survive. Viable equipment salvaged from the crash was later put into some other Lockheed 1011 Tristar jets. On various flights of planes with salvaged equipment, both passengers and crew started seeing the ghosts/apparitions of two of the dead crew members (Bob Loft and Don Repo) from Flight 401. The first third of the book deals with the crash of the plane and rescue efforts. The rest of the book deals with the reported paranormal experiences and the occult. The ghosts/apparitions eventually stopped. The cessation of appearances, especially of Don Repo, appear to be connected to a séance and an exorcism conducted by airline employees.
October 4, 2025
One of the paranormal booksof the 70's, that are very much like something from the Leonard Nimoy hosted version of In Search Of...
Flight 401 to Miami crashed through a series of poor decisions, poor engineering, and overall bad luck. Many people died, but for some reason, the airline decided to cannibalize the wrecks for parts. Then ghosts of the crew started to show up on planes where these parts were used.
Very creepy.
Flight 401 to Miami crashed through a series of poor decisions, poor engineering, and overall bad luck. Many people died, but for some reason, the airline decided to cannibalize the wrecks for parts. Then ghosts of the crew started to show up on planes where these parts were used.
Very creepy.
October 17, 2023
What could have been a thrilling paranormal fiction novel is reduced to an exasperating, allegedly non-fiction story of haunted flights, because of Fuller's insistence that we unquestioningly believe every word he's written.
The re-creation of the crash itself is well done (although the switching between several perspectives did confuse me at times). But everything that follows is basically Fuller saying, "These ghosts were real! People who look respectable/people in respectable professions told me the stories! So they must be real! You have to believe me! It's all true! I only have anecdotal evidence, but it's anecdotes from respectable people! Sure, they don't want their names revealed, because big bad Eastern Airlines will fire them. But they all love the L1011, and they all saw the ghosts! Believe me!" Copy and paste this about a hundred times, and voila! You have The Gost of Flight 401.
Let's not even talk about the climax with the Ouija board. Again, it would have been excellent fiction, but Fuller's need to make us BELIEVE ruined any hope of that.
PS: If I had a dime for every time a female character is described as "attractive." Forget the context, forget the role they play in the narrative, forget the role they play in their lives - are they attractive? Because that's the most important quality any woman can possibly possess. Excuse me while I retrieve those eyes of mine that have rolled back into my skull.
The re-creation of the crash itself is well done (although the switching between several perspectives did confuse me at times). But everything that follows is basically Fuller saying, "These ghosts were real! People who look respectable/people in respectable professions told me the stories! So they must be real! You have to believe me! It's all true! I only have anecdotal evidence, but it's anecdotes from respectable people! Sure, they don't want their names revealed, because big bad Eastern Airlines will fire them. But they all love the L1011, and they all saw the ghosts! Believe me!" Copy and paste this about a hundred times, and voila! You have The Gost of Flight 401.
Let's not even talk about the climax with the Ouija board. Again, it would have been excellent fiction, but Fuller's need to make us BELIEVE ruined any hope of that.
PS: If I had a dime for every time a female character is described as "attractive." Forget the context, forget the role they play in the narrative, forget the role they play in their lives - are they attractive? Because that's the most important quality any woman can possibly possess. Excuse me while I retrieve those eyes of mine that have rolled back into my skull.
January 15, 2014
I straight up loved this book. I have always been interested in ghosts, and ghost stories, most books you read are either very old stories, or too short to immerse yourself in. I am sold on the existence of ghosts, always have been, but what I loved the most about this book was the fact the author A) was a skeptic himself and B) he made it a point of the book to really track those leads and gather enough information to convince even himself.
I also love that by the end he feels he has gathered enough information for himself to open to the idea of life after death, but you can tell through his writing, getting that far surprises even himself.
The book is great from the off, the build up to the flight, the vivid reality of the crash which in all honesty makes you feel a little melancholy for a while, and then the story that emerges after, concluding with a lighter mood created by getting to know one of the flight crew a little more personally.
I will definitely read this book again, and am very glad I got to read a more modern ghost story, it may be 40 years old now, but it certainly still resonants with a modern world.
I also love that by the end he feels he has gathered enough information for himself to open to the idea of life after death, but you can tell through his writing, getting that far surprises even himself.
The book is great from the off, the build up to the flight, the vivid reality of the crash which in all honesty makes you feel a little melancholy for a while, and then the story that emerges after, concluding with a lighter mood created by getting to know one of the flight crew a little more personally.
I will definitely read this book again, and am very glad I got to read a more modern ghost story, it may be 40 years old now, but it certainly still resonants with a modern world.
April 21, 2015
There were a few things that I really liked about this book but there was also multiple things that I really didn't like. I loved how the author explained about the different ghost stories and the whole sequence of the book that talked about the plane crashing. I was on the edge of my seat through several of these scenes.
However, I got so confused as Fuller jumped from character to character during the plane crash and then while he was talking about all the people that he got his research from. He was constantly mentioning awards that he got on other books and that he was in Florida studying for a more important book on oceanography. Like who cares? It's completely off topic. I just found his arrogance dripping from the pages and words of this book and it annoyed me so much. I would definitely not recommend or read this book again.
However, I got so confused as Fuller jumped from character to character during the plane crash and then while he was talking about all the people that he got his research from. He was constantly mentioning awards that he got on other books and that he was in Florida studying for a more important book on oceanography. Like who cares? It's completely off topic. I just found his arrogance dripping from the pages and words of this book and it annoyed me so much. I would definitely not recommend or read this book again.
March 11, 2023
I found the story about the tragic 1972 plane crash much more interesting than the author's very deep dive into the ghostly sightings by employees of Eastern airlines in the months following the crash--as fascinating and often heartbreaking as that was. [As an aside, there's a very good podcast called Take to the Sky, which explores historic and current air disasters, hosted by two women who love to travel and who want to explore the facts about why they occurred and what safety precautions and procedures have been implemented as a result]. But I give credit to the author as he himself, a consummate investigative journalist, struggled to make sense of this story.
**NOTE: The Goodreads book image provided does not match the book title/author yet the publisher and other information do.
**NOTE: The Goodreads book image provided does not match the book title/author yet the publisher and other information do.
August 21, 2024
Good book. Well worth the read. He did, however, spend a great deal of time at the end of the book on the subject of survival after death. This is a very interesting subject, but I did feel it did eat up a large portion of the book. Other than that......a good read.
November 3, 2012
I bought John Fuller's The Ghost of Flight 401 at a book sale recently. The copy looked and smelled wonderfully old, and that combined with the word 'ghost' in the title is what made me buy it. It was only after I came home with my bag full of books, read the back cover and looked it up on the internet, that I discovered that it is supposed to be a non-fiction ghost story. Wow. I was hooked. A week-long vacation and my unfortunate choice of the travel read (Pasternak's Dr. Zhivago) interrupted my reading of this fascinating book, but as soon as I came back, just yesterday, in fact, I immersed myself into the book once again.
Read review here: http://peskypiksipesternomi.blogspot....
Read review here: http://peskypiksipesternomi.blogspot....
August 16, 2015
The account of an airplane crash in the everglades in the 70's and the bizarre occurrences on it's sister planes. The account of the crash and the survival of the passengers and crew is harrowing, the next section doesn't quite live up to the hype.
February 11, 2021
In December 1972, a horrible plane accident ended up killing 101 individuals on an Eastern Airlines jumbo jet flight. Since that horrible accident, there have been strange reports of ghostly encounters on sister ships that carried parts from this plane.
For the most part, this book was a very interesting read. I had first learned about this ghost story from Daniel Cohen in his children's book, Phone Call From a Ghost. As an adult and reading Fuller's book, it just continues to maintain my belief in the spiritual world.
Overall, Fuller's writing is like reading any typical memoir, but has the flavor of reading like an investigative report. The first part of the book recollected the tragedy and how it had impacted those who were working on the sister planes. As someone who doesn't know a lot about flying and planes, the technical parts were not very interesting. However, once Fuller explored the incidents of other pilots, stewardesses, and even a few customers, it became much more interesting.
The first moment when Fuller places himself into the story, he came across initially as an egotistical, stereotypical reporter. The intentions for his insertion into the narrative were made clear in the beginning, but became much more necessary towards the third part of the book, when he gets involved with psychics and getting into contact with the spirit of Don Repo, and eventually making contact with Repo's family.
While this review is usually more aligned with a 4 star read, there were also a number of grammatical and spelling errors that ended up being a distraction, and as a result, knocked the rating down. I believe that there was a Made For TV Movie done based off this story that is available to watch on YouTube. I hope it is just as good as this book was.
For the most part, this book was a very interesting read. I had first learned about this ghost story from Daniel Cohen in his children's book, Phone Call From a Ghost. As an adult and reading Fuller's book, it just continues to maintain my belief in the spiritual world.
Overall, Fuller's writing is like reading any typical memoir, but has the flavor of reading like an investigative report. The first part of the book recollected the tragedy and how it had impacted those who were working on the sister planes. As someone who doesn't know a lot about flying and planes, the technical parts were not very interesting. However, once Fuller explored the incidents of other pilots, stewardesses, and even a few customers, it became much more interesting.
The first moment when Fuller places himself into the story, he came across initially as an egotistical, stereotypical reporter. The intentions for his insertion into the narrative were made clear in the beginning, but became much more necessary towards the third part of the book, when he gets involved with psychics and getting into contact with the spirit of Don Repo, and eventually making contact with Repo's family.
While this review is usually more aligned with a 4 star read, there were also a number of grammatical and spelling errors that ended up being a distraction, and as a result, knocked the rating down. I believe that there was a Made For TV Movie done based off this story that is available to watch on YouTube. I hope it is just as good as this book was.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 1, 2017
Congratulations to John Fuller for making an account featuring many people and many, many important details into an engrossing story. (The writer of "102 Minutes" could learn a lot from him!)
The book begins with the fateful Eastern Airlines flight 401 and the series of tiny, by themselves insignificant, details which led to its horrific crash in the Everglades. There is a harrowing account of the drawn-out and difficult rescue. Then it skips forward several months to the strange reports of dead flight crew members appearing on other Eastern flights. They are seen by many witnesses - crew and passengers - often by numerous witnesses at the same time, leading to flight delays and cancellations and even police searches of the planes. Details were entered into the flight log book, but when other flight crew came to examine the logs... The relevant pages had been removed by Eastern Airlines.
What sets this work apart is John Fuller's obvious desire for journalistic and scientific rigour. He is sceptical almost throughout the book, sometimes getting closer to believing, but mostly keeping an objective distance.
Until the end.
I won't reveal that, obviously, but I had tears in my eyes, which I never expected from a book like this.
Definitely worth a read for those in two minds about the supernatural. The evidence presented here is as close to irrefutable as I've ever seen.
The book begins with the fateful Eastern Airlines flight 401 and the series of tiny, by themselves insignificant, details which led to its horrific crash in the Everglades. There is a harrowing account of the drawn-out and difficult rescue. Then it skips forward several months to the strange reports of dead flight crew members appearing on other Eastern flights. They are seen by many witnesses - crew and passengers - often by numerous witnesses at the same time, leading to flight delays and cancellations and even police searches of the planes. Details were entered into the flight log book, but when other flight crew came to examine the logs... The relevant pages had been removed by Eastern Airlines.
What sets this work apart is John Fuller's obvious desire for journalistic and scientific rigour. He is sceptical almost throughout the book, sometimes getting closer to believing, but mostly keeping an objective distance.
Until the end.
I won't reveal that, obviously, but I had tears in my eyes, which I never expected from a book like this.
Definitely worth a read for those in two minds about the supernatural. The evidence presented here is as close to irrefutable as I've ever seen.
June 6, 2023
Written during the “medium” & “spiritualist” craze of the 70s, this book is a vintage paperback following the crash of an Eastern Airlines L-1011 WhisperLiner jet in the Florida Everglades in 1972. The first half of the book is a narrative retelling of the incident; the latter half is Fuller pursuing the stories about flight engineer Repo’s ghost appearing on subsequent L-1011 flights. However, the “evidence” is sketchy to nonexistent. All interactive “evidence” is anecdotal and involves “feelings” or stories about Repo’s face appearing in the flight attendant’s ovens on the jet liner (yes, the ovens). The flight logs when searched show no sign of ghosts being reported on the craft. Then, it turns out there’s a group of people who work with Eastern Airlines who’re involved in the occult, medium activities, and Ouija boards. They perform a seance and an exorcism at a distance. All the “evidence” these individuals report revolves around these channeling activities and cold readings, with much of the information presented in the book being reported as the nonsense it is. Not a compelling case study and the book offers no proof. I suppose that’s why this book and this event have vanished from history and memory. Most of the book was pretty cornball; it reminded me of an episode of Sally Jessy Raphael with James Van Praagh, not convincing at all.
November 1, 2022
If you don't believe in ghosts or the possibility of ghosts, skip this book. The author does a great job in trying to be as scientific as possible and keep things that can be if not proven, at least verified. The bottom line if you don't believe in ghosts you won't buy any of it. If you do believe in ghosts or the possibility of life after death, this is a fascinating read. The focus is on Flight 401 which went down in the Everglades. It was one of the worst accidents. Then after the accident there started to be reports about some of the crew who had perished being seen on other flights and that's where things get interesting. Eastern Airlines referred anyone who even mentioned seeing apparitions to the company psychiatrist to try to keep the rumors down, but what John G. Fuller discovered was there were too many stories to cover them all up and they all were very similar even among people who had never met or had reason to make up these stories. If you like a good ghost story, check this out. Even if you don't believe in ghosts, reading about this accident is interesting.
May 8, 2024
Most of the authors fade in the background while telling the story.Not in this case. The author who was a very busy guy traveling, promoting ,researching ,investigating more important subjects to be bother with a little ghost story and he lets you know that from the start. This is a book about writing a book ,about the author's experience while searching for info about The Ghost of flight 401.
The author never truly believed in the subject ,always second guessing all the evidence gathered. Claimed he has such an amount of evidence,but never really shared it with the reader. Only couple of times in very short stories .
The more you read the book , the more you realize the ghost story is diluting .This is not worth it as a book subject. It could had been easily a essay on a magazine or newspaper. There is no much to say but repeating yourself like the author did.
If interested, better watch the movie and google for survivors account of the crash. Both online.
The author never truly believed in the subject ,always second guessing all the evidence gathered. Claimed he has such an amount of evidence,but never really shared it with the reader. Only couple of times in very short stories .
The more you read the book , the more you realize the ghost story is diluting .This is not worth it as a book subject. It could had been easily a essay on a magazine or newspaper. There is no much to say but repeating yourself like the author did.
If interested, better watch the movie and google for survivors account of the crash. Both online.
August 5, 2019
I'm very familiar with this accident and although I highly discourage the supernatural interaction depicted in the story, I do salute the author's tenacity for sharing the truth behind the tragedy. The captain's daughter worked for Piedmont Airlines, as did I, and her willingness to discuss this other-worldly experience among fellow airline employees was well-known. I also had a professor in college who was an Eastern airlines pilot that had warned the airline mere months before the crash about an engineering defect in the L-1011 autopilot system. He was subsequently fired by Eastern Airlines and later awarded a large legal settlement. I recommend this book because it is thought-provoking and realistic. I do not endorse its non-Christian approach to spiritual interaction and problem-solving.
June 8, 2023
I liked the first half of the book that talks about the unfortunate accident of Flight 401.
I’m a flight attendant so these topics fascinate and scare me at the same time…
But later the author starts ‘researching’ the topic and there is too much mention of paranormal, psychics and mediums. It side tracks from the stories and re actually mentions the same stories over and over. He talks about how nobody wants their real name mentioned because they would most likely be sent to a shrink.
Ok, we don’t need this mentioned with every person he interviews. Move on…
I still have about 80 pages to read but it’s more out of curiosity than actually enjoying it. So i started skimming the pages. Too bad i paid $8 for kindle version. But for a book being written in 1970s it’s okay i guess.
Nothing special, and I actually haven’t learned anything new or inspiring about this topic.
I’m a flight attendant so these topics fascinate and scare me at the same time…
But later the author starts ‘researching’ the topic and there is too much mention of paranormal, psychics and mediums. It side tracks from the stories and re actually mentions the same stories over and over. He talks about how nobody wants their real name mentioned because they would most likely be sent to a shrink.
Ok, we don’t need this mentioned with every person he interviews. Move on…
I still have about 80 pages to read but it’s more out of curiosity than actually enjoying it. So i started skimming the pages. Too bad i paid $8 for kindle version. But for a book being written in 1970s it’s okay i guess.
Nothing special, and I actually haven’t learned anything new or inspiring about this topic.
January 30, 2024
This book is for anybody technically minded, who loves the science and mechanics involved in aviation. You also have to have an open mind and an interest in the paranormal. I obtained this book and read it because it was mentioned on a favorite show of mine. I very much enjoy shows about aviation and ship accidents. I enjoy the scientific investigation that follows each, but on this particular show they went a little further into the story. If you enjoy these sorts of things, I highly recommend this book. Fuller delves into the paranormal world with a healthy amount of skepticism, and presents the information gleaned from witnesses and families with the utmost respect. Loved this book.
September 11, 2021
Interesting book
Brought me to tears near the end when they were trying to talk to Don. They did have some typos though on the kindle version. When reading this I reached out to my mother asking about my deceased grandfather (her FIL) who was at Eastern in Miami in the 70s and we think he was there at Eastern for the crash during those years. I apologize on my grandfather's behalf if when accidentally fixing/repairing radios if he accidentally caused 318 to be haunted too.
Brought me to tears near the end when they were trying to talk to Don. They did have some typos though on the kindle version. When reading this I reached out to my mother asking about my deceased grandfather (her FIL) who was at Eastern in Miami in the 70s and we think he was there at Eastern for the crash during those years. I apologize on my grandfather's behalf if when accidentally fixing/repairing radios if he accidentally caused 318 to be haunted too.
September 29, 2021
John G. Fuller thoroughly investigates the story surrounding the Eastern Airline’s Flight 401 crash in the Everglades during the 1970s. He recreates the story of the crash itself, presents eyewitness accounts from flight attendants and pilots of the apparitions of Repo and Loft, and carefully supports claims with research in parapsychology. He shines a less spooky and more of a positive light on ghosts.
January 19, 2022
The beginning pulls you in, and the story stays pretty engaging throughout, but I personally was feeling a bit uninterested by the time I got to the end of it. The story is non-fiction from what I gather (a story about ghosts so there is some debate on its truthfulness), and intimately documents the actual crash, so I would still say it's worth a read. Google the flight to see actual images of the crash! It's crazy.
March 20, 2022
1976 Review: I borrowed this book from my girlfriend, who recommended it highly. I quite enjoyed this mysterious tale – we girls enjoyed that sort of book back in that time – and the movie version was not as good, but at least watchable.
📖 Book version.
🎥 Movie version.
2020 Review: Found a copy on Internet Archive, which I was happy for; read this again and enjoyed it again for old time's sake.
⚪️Internet Archive.
📖 Book version.
🎥 Movie version.
2020 Review: Found a copy on Internet Archive, which I was happy for; read this again and enjoyed it again for old time's sake.
⚪️Internet Archive.
June 20, 2025
Look I thought this was fictional ghost plane and didn't realize this was a journalist's deep dive into the paranormal surrounding a horrific plane crash.
While this was written during the 70s obsession with psychic phenomenon and ghosts, coming off in equal parts fond and comical, this is still a book that pushes the idea that ghosts are definitely real. This was also the period where that doctor guy took acid, lay in a deprivation chamber, and assumed that he could psychically connect with dolphins to teach them English. And the US government SUBSIDIZED this as 'research'.
So, I'd say this is a window into the weird side of the 70s (as if it had a normal side?), where a collective group of people convinced that ghosts were trying to communicate with them. Fuller's writing style is solid, but I think this so easily could be remixed into a straight up horror/possession/ghost novel.
While this was written during the 70s obsession with psychic phenomenon and ghosts, coming off in equal parts fond and comical, this is still a book that pushes the idea that ghosts are definitely real. This was also the period where that doctor guy took acid, lay in a deprivation chamber, and assumed that he could psychically connect with dolphins to teach them English. And the US government SUBSIDIZED this as 'research'.
So, I'd say this is a window into the weird side of the 70s (as if it had a normal side?), where a collective group of people convinced that ghosts were trying to communicate with them. Fuller's writing style is solid, but I think this so easily could be remixed into a straight up horror/possession/ghost novel.
January 11, 2024
Se basa en una tragedia aérea verdadera. Buena investigación mecánica y parapsicológica. De la mitad hacia el final se pone mejor cuando logran desenlazar algunos hechos. Tiene partes en las que el autor repite detalles o hace referencia a su vida que nada tiene que ver con la trama del libro, pudiéndose obviar. Luego de terminarlo, uno queda pensando que pasa después de la muerte...
July 30, 2019
Enjoyed bout telling of plane crashes and what happened and what ppl saw after of ghost of pilots but I got little fed up he going in bout other things and bout certain thing .. felt
Like saying get on with the story .
Got
Fed up 3/4 of way.
Like saying get on with the story .
Got
Fed up 3/4 of way.
November 22, 2020
Interesting topic, however the author seemed desperate to make himself the main character, he spends a good 5% of the book discussing his other work.
It’s convenient that all of the ‘sources’ for the ‘evidence’ refused to allow use of their real names, but it’s a relatively good book all the same
It’s convenient that all of the ‘sources’ for the ‘evidence’ refused to allow use of their real names, but it’s a relatively good book all the same
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