Possible Antecedents For SF Jetliner Landing Crash

I'd written a couple of weeks ago about mining, public safety and the operation of sophisticated machinery - - using aviation examples to illustrate my point - - but after seeing the images of the Boeing 777 jetliner crash-landing in San Francisco I was again reminded of a long-ago Miami-bound jetliner crash also on final approach.

Problems with cockpit crew coordination and awareness came into play at a critical time in the flight, though I am not saying the cause or causes in Saturday's 777 crash will turn out to be identical:

Ninety-nine people died in 1972 when a Lockheed-1011, the most advanced large passenger jet flying at the time, crashed into the Florida Everglades because all three cockpit crew members, distracted by a single warning light (harmless, it turned out) as the plane descended towards the runway forgot to fly and land the plane.  

True story:

Flight EA401 departed New York-JFK at 21:20 EST for a flight to Miami. The flight was uneventful until the approach to Miami. After selecting gear down, the nosegear light didn't indicate 'down and locked'. Even after recycling the gear, the light still didn't illuminate. 

At 23:34 the crew called Miami Tower and were advised to climb to 2000 feet and hold. At 23:37 the captain instructed the second officer to enter the forward electronics bay, below the flight deck, to check visually the alignment of the nose gear indices. Meanwhile, the flight crew continued their attempts to free the nosegear position light lens from its retainer, without success. 

The second officer was directed to descend into the electronics bay again at 23:38 and the captain and first officer continued discussing the gear position light lens assembly and how it might have been reinserted incorrectly. At 23:40:38 a half-second C-chord sounded in the cockpit, indicating a +/- 250 feet deviation from the selected altitude. None of the crewmembers commented on the warning and no action was taken. 

A little later the Eastern Airlines maintenance specialist, occupying the forward observer seat went into the electronics bay to assist the second officer with the operation of the nose wheel well light. 

At 23:41:40 Miami approach contacted the flight and granted the crew's request to turn around by clearing him for a left turn heading 180 degrees. 

At 23:42:05 the first officer suddenly realized that the altitude had dropped. Just seven seconds afterwards, while in a left bank of 28deg, the TriStar's no. 1 engine struck the ground, followed by the left main gear. The aircraft disintegrated, scattering wreckage over an area of flat marshland, covering a 1600 feet x 300 feet area.