The tragic night began routinely enough. Bound for Miami, Flight 401 took off from New York's JKF airport at 9:20 p.m. In the cockpit: Capt. Robert Loft, 55; First Officer Albert Stockstill, 39; Second Officer Donald Repo, 51, all of Miami-Dade. Loft, an Eastern employee since 1951 when Eddie Rickenbacker was his boss, spent the morning doing yard work before heading to MIA. The flight had 163 passengers and 13 crew members, with 50 empty seats. Raposa and Ruiz, along with some of the other flight attendants, slipped aboard at the last minute, arriving late to New York from a...