The flight was to be in the capable hands of captain Robert Albin Loft. Loft, a tall and trim 55 year old had been flying for Eastern Airlines since the days of Eddie Rickenbacker. With thirty-two years of seniority, he was ranked fiftieth among the airlines four thousand pilots.

The pilot in command of Eastern Air Lines Flight 401, which tragically crashed into the Florida Everglades on December 29, 1972, was Captain Robert Albin "Bob" Loft. Captain Loft was a highly experienced veteran with over 30 years at the airline and nearly 30,000 flight hours. The flight crew also included First Officer Albert Stockstill, who was actually flying the aircraft at the time of the descent, and Second Officer (Flight Engineer) Donald "Don" Repo. The accident is historically significant in aviation because it was caused by a "deadly distraction"—the entire crew became fixated on a burnt-out landing gear light bulb, failing to notice that the autopilot had been inadvertently disengaged, leading the L-1011 TriStar to slowly descend into the swamp. This event was a primary catalyst for the development of modern Crew Resource Management (CRM) training.