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Charlotte Observer
What happened to Flight 212’s survivors after the crash, and a full list of the deceased
By Scott Fowler, Théoden Janes,
14 hours ago
Of the 82 people on board Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 on Sept. 11, 1974, only 10 survived the worst air disaster in Charlotte history. The crash was caused by pilot error as a result of misread altimeters and “poor cockpit discipline,” according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
Flight 212 would help lead to the creation of the Federal Aviation Administration’s “sterile cockpit” rule, which governs all flights today and forbids pilots from talking about anything unrelated to the flight on takeoffs, landings and below 10,000 feet.
Three of the original 10 survivors of Flight 212 are still alive, 50 years later. The Observer spoke with all three, as well as with family members of the other seven original survivors. Here’s what happened to each of the 10 plane crash survivors.
Surviving passengers (3)
Richard Arnold: Living in Washington state.
The worst-injured survivor, Arnold spent months in a hospital in Charleston recovering from severe burns, then years as a key plaintiff in a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against Eastern and its insurance carriers. He met his second wife Catherine in 1991. Now 81, Arnold and the younger of his two sons from his first marriage, Christopher, are working on a book about the crash.
Bob Burnham: Living in South Carolina.
Eastern Flight 212 passenger Bob Burnham. He was one of the crash’s 10 survivors on Sept. 11, 1974. JEFF SINER/jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
In the Navy at the time of the crash, Burnham stayed in for nearly 14 years, then went to work in the commercial nuclear power industry.
He has two children, three grandchildren and has flown many times after the crash, always sitting in the back of the plane as he did for Flight 212. “I’m a stoic,” he said. “I pretty much compartmentalized it.” Now 75, Burnham lives with his wife in the Hilton Head area.
Scott Johnson: Living in Vermont.
A 20-year-old welder in the Navy at the time of the crash, Johnson, now 70, said he still suffers from PTSD due to Flight 212. He took a medical retirement from the Navy as a disabled veteran, due to the crash’s impact on his life. Johnson has one daughter and never flies.
“I’m not afraid of flying,” he said. “I’m just afraid of crashing.”
Other original surviving passengers (5)
Roy Hendrix: Died in 2022 at age 80.
Roy Hendrix, left and his son, Sonny Hendrix, right, in 1986. Courtesy of Sonny Henrix
Hendrix remained in the Navy after the plane crash and served for 24 years on its submarine force, retiring as a Navy commander. Following the crash, he studiously avoided airplanes. His older son became a pilot for American Airlines and has flown over the crash site of Flight 212 in Charlotte many times.
Frank Mihalek: Died in 2012 at age 84.
The oldest survivor of Flight 212, Mihalek was 46 at the time of the crash and helped pull co-pilot Jim Daniels away from the wreckage. His son Darryl Mihalek calls him “the original 9/11 hero.” Frank Mihalek died on Sept. 11, 2012, the 38th anniversary of the plane crash, due to complications from cardiovascular disease and a stroke. For years before his death, he would call and talk to fellow survivor Colette Watson, the flight attendant, every Sept. 11th.
Jim Schulze: Died in 1995 at age 46.
Jim Schulze on the day he was commissioned into the Navy in 1971. Schulze was on Eastern Flight 212 on Sept. 11, 1974 and was one of the 10 survivors of a crash that killed 72 people. Courtesy of Lin Schulze
Schulze stayed in the Navy for years after the crash, mostly teaching at the Navy’s Nuclear Power School. He and his wife, Lin Schulze, had two daughters. Of the 10 people who survived the crash, Schulze died at the youngest age, of non-Hodgkins lymphoma.
His wife Lin has long wondered if all of the black smoke he inhaled on the day of the crash contributed to the cancer that killed him.
John Toohey: Died in 1996 at age 54.
Yet another Navy man — five of Flight 212’s 10 survivors were in the Navy — the corpsman and Vietnam vet was on his way to the funeral of his father, who had died of cancer at 53. Toohey also died of cancer, although it wasn’t clear what type had stricken him; his widow, Peggy, says he refused to see a doctor until it was too late.
Charles Weaver: Died in 2014 at age 82.
Charles Weaver was one of the survivors of the Eastern Flight 212 plane crash. He died in 2014 at age 82. Courtesy of Steve Weaver
The father of five lost Harry Grady, his best friend, in the crash. He was plagued by survivor’s guilt because the two men had traded seats on the plane at the last minute that morning.
His family says Weaver was a “very religious person” who was heavily involved in their church before the tragedy occurred; afterward, he rarely set foot in a church again.
Original surviving crew (2)
Co-pilot Jim Daniels: Died in 2021 at age 83.
Former Eastern Airlines pilot Jim Daniels. Courtesy of Ruth Leifels
Daniels, who was flying the plane at the time of the crash, sustained some injuries but recovered.
After losing his pilot’s license, he would later regain it and return to the air, flying cargo and charter planes for decades. He died in Florida after being diagnosed with lung cancer.
Flight attendant Colette Watson: Died in 2023 at age 74.
After surviving the crash of Eastern Flight 212, flight attendant Colette Watson would eventually return to the air and continue flying until Eastern shut down in 1991. Courtesy of Bree Watson Johnson
Watson was 26, married and childless at the time of the crash.
Despite some trepidation, she would return to the air and worked for Eastern for a total of 23 years, until the airline shut down in 1991. She then became a school secretary in Georgia. She had two children and two grandchildren.
The victims
Seventy-two people died as a result of the Flight 212 plane crash on Sept. 11, 1974 — 70 passengers and two crew members. Those 72 are listed below, along with their ages when they died.
There’s nothing wrong with a casual conversation in the cockpit or when driving a car. It helps keep you awake and relaxed. When you’re doing an instrument-only landing in dense fog, poor weather, driving in pouring rain or on icy roads, then it’s best to knock that 💩 off for awhile and focus.
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