What happened
On the afternoon of December 5, 1945, five TBM Avenger torpedo bombers took off from Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale on a routine navigation flight over the Bahamas. There were 14 airmen on board. After a practice bombing run, the flight leader, Lieutenant Charles Taylor, reported that his compasses were not working and decided that they were over the Florida Keys. Over the following hours, radio stations heard the planes circling and changing course as the weather worsened. The last transmissions were received in the evening, as fuel was running out. A PBM Mariner flying boat with a crew of 13, sent to search for them, also disappeared – the crew of a passing tanker saw flames in the sky. Neither wreckage nor bodies were ever found.
Witnesses
Radio operators at Florida bases who heard the pilots’ conversations, and the crew of a tanker who saw flames in the area where the flying boat disappeared.
Explanations and hypotheses
The Navy’s investigation concluded that the flight leader mistook the islands of the Bahamas for the Florida Keys and led the planes out over the ocean, where, after running out of fuel, they would have had to ditch at night in rough seas. At the request of his family, the cause was later changed to “unknown.” The loss of the flying boat was attributed to a midair explosion – aircraft of this type had a reputation for accumulating fuel vapors. Flight 19 became the foundation of the Bermuda Triangle legend.
Disputed A likely explanation exists, but some of the facts are still disputed.
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