Flight 19 was the name given to a group of five Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bombers that disappeared over the Bermuda Triangle on December 5, 1945, during a United States Navy training flight over water from Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale, Florida. All 14 pilots on the flight were lost, along with all 13 crew members of a Martin PBM Mariner aircraft that later took off from Naval Air Station Banana River to search for Flight 19.
A Navy report stated that the flight leader, Lt. Charles C. Taylor, incorrectly identified small islands near the coast as the Florida Keys after his compasses stopped working, causing the flight to head into open sea away from land. The report was later changed by the Navy to "cause unknown" to avoid placing blame on Taylor for the loss of five planes and 14 men. The report also said the PBM aircraft was lost due to an explosion in the air while searching for Flight 19.
Navigation training flight
Flight 19 participated in a regular training mission involving navigation and combat exercises using TBM-type aircraft. The mission was called "Navigation Problem No. 1," a task that included bombing and navigation practices other flights had completed or were scheduled to complete that day. The flight leader, Lieutenant Charles Carroll Taylor, had about 2,500 hours of flying experience, mostly in this type of aircraft. His trainee pilots each had 300 total hours and 60 hours of experience flying the Avenger. Taylor had previously served as a torpedo bomber pilot on the aircraft carrier USS Hancock in the Pacific theater and had recently arrived from NAS Miami, where he had also taught torpedo-bombing plane students. The student pilots had recently completed other training missions in the area where this flight was taking place. They were U.S. Marine Captains Edward Joseph Powers and George William Stivers, U.S. Marine Second Lieutenant Forrest James Gerber, and U.S. Navy Ensign Joseph Tipton Bossi.
The aircraft used were three TBM-1Cs (BuNo 45714, 'FT3'; BuNo 46325, 'FT81'; BuNo 73209, 'FT117'), one TBM-1E (BuNo 46094, 'FT36'), and one TBM-3 (BuNo 23307, 'FT28'). Each was a version of the Grumman TBF Avenger, produced by General Motors' Eastern Aircraft Division under wartime production licenses. During World War II, the U.S. Navy designated Grumman-built Avengers as TBF and General Motors-built Avengers as TBM. All aircraft were fully fueled, and pre-flight checks revealed they had no clocks. Navigation during the mission was intended to teach dead reckoning, which involves calculating time and other factors. The lack of clocks was not a concern, as it was assumed each pilot had a personal watch. Takeoff was originally scheduled for 13:45 local time but was delayed until 14:10 due to Taylor’s late arrival. Weather conditions at NAS Fort Lauderdale were described as "favorable, sea state moderate to rough."
The exercise involved three legs of the flight, with the fourth leg being a return to NAS Fort Lauderdale after reaching the Florida coast. After takeoff, the flight traveled on a heading of 091° (almost due east) for 56 nautical miles (64 miles; 104 kilometers) to Hens and Chickens Shoals, also known as Chicken Rocks, where low-level bombing practice occurred. The flight was to continue on that heading for another 67 nautical miles (77 miles; 124 kilometers) before turning to a heading of 346° for 73 nautical miles (84 miles; 135 kilometers), which would take them over Grand Bahama Island. The next planned turn was to a heading of 241° for 120 nautical miles (140 miles; 220 kilometers), after which the exercise would end, and the aircraft would turn left to return to NAS Fort Lauderdale.
Radio communications between the pilots were overheard by the base and other aircraft nearby. The bombing practice was confirmed because, around 15:00, a pilot requested and received permission to drop his last bomb. Forty minutes later, another flight instructor, Lieutenant Robert F. Cox in FT-74, who was preparing to lead his own group for the same mission, received an unidentified transmission.
An unidentified crew member asked Powers, one of the students, for his compass reading. Powers replied, "I don't know where we are. We must have gotten lost after that last turn." Cox then transmitted, "This is FT-74, plane or boat calling 'Powers' please identify yourself so someone can help you." After a short delay, the other pilots in the flight requested suggestions. FT-74 tried again, and a man identified as FT-28 (Taylor) responded. "FT-28, this is FT-74, what is your trouble?" Taylor replied, "Both of my compasses are out, and I am trying to find Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I am over land, but it's broken. I am sure I'm in the Keys, but I don't know how far down or how to get to Fort Lauderdale." FT-74 informed the base that aircraft were lost and advised Taylor to position the sun on his port wing and fly north along the coast to Fort Lauderdale. Base operations then asked if Taylor’s aircraft had a standard YG (IFF) transmitter, which could help locate the flight, but the message was not acknowledged by FT-28. (Later, Taylor indicated his transmitter was activated.) Instead, at 16:45, FT-28 radioed, "We are heading 030 degrees for 45 minutes, then we will fly north to make sure we are not over the Gulf of Mexico." During this time, no bearings could be made on the flight, and IFF signals could not be detected. Taylor was told to broadcast on 4805 kHz. This order was not acknowledged, so he was asked to switch to 3000 kHz, the search and rescue frequency. Taylor replied, "I cannot switch frequencies. I must keep my planes intact."
At 16:56, Taylor was again asked to activate his YG transmitter if he had one. He did not acknowledge but, a few minutes later, advised his flight, "Change course to 090 degrees (due east) for 10 minutes." Around the same time, someone in the flight said, "Dammit, if we could just fly west we would get home; head west, dammit." This disagreement later led to questions about why the students did not simply head west on their own. It has been explained that this was due to military discipline. As weather conditions worsened, radio contact became intermittent, and it was believed the five aircraft were more than 200 nautical miles (230 miles; 370 kilometers) out to sea, east of the Florida peninsula. Taylor radioed, "We'll fly 270 degrees west until landfall
PBM-5 (Bureau Number 59225)
As it became clear the flight was lost, air bases, aircraft, and merchant ships were notified. A Consolidated PBY Catalina took off after 18:00 to search for Flight 19 and help guide them back if found. After dark, two Martin PBM Mariner flying boats, which were originally planned for training flights, were redirected to perform grid searches in the area west of 29°N 79°W. US Navy Squadron Training No. 49 PBM-5 BuNo 59225 departed at 19:27 from Naval Air Station Banana River, sent a routine radio message at 19:30, and was never heard from again.
At 21:15, the tanker SS Gaines Mills reported seeing flames from what appeared to be an explosion rising 100 ft (30 m) high and burning for 10 minutes at position 28°35′N 80°15′W. Captain Shonna Stanley searched for survivors in a pool of oil and aviation gasoline but was unsuccessful. The escort carrier USS Solomons also reported losing radar contact with an aircraft at the same location and time.
The PBM could carry 9.83 tonnes of aviation gasoline. Its flexible fuel lines were known to become loose in rough conditions, leading to gasoline leaks. The most likely conclusion is that the PBM experienced a mid-air explosion.
Investigation
A 500-page Navy investigation report published a few months later included several findings. Later, the Navy changed parts of the report without explaining why, after Taylor’s mother argued that the Navy unfairly blamed her son for the loss of 5 planes and 14 people. She claimed the Navy had no evidence, such as the planes or the bodies of the crew, to support its claims.
If Flight 19 had been where Taylor believed it was, the plane would have reached the Florida coast within 20 minutes, depending on how far off course it was. However, a later review of the incident suggested that the islands Taylor saw were likely the Bahamas, located far to the northeast of the Florida Keys. The investigation concluded that Taylor’s belief he was heading toward Florida caused him to steer the flight farther northeast and out to sea. It was common knowledge at NAS Fort Lauderdale that pilots who became lost in the area should fly west at a heading of 270°. Additionally, pilots who got lost while flying south were advised to turn their planes around with the sun on their left side and follow the Florida coast north. By the time the flight turned west, the plane was likely far out to sea, beyond the range of its fuel supply. This, combined with bad weather and the way the Avenger plane behaves when landing in water, made rescue unlikely even if the plane had stayed afloat.
It is possible that Taylor passed Gorda Cay and reached another area in the southern Abaco Islands. He then continued northwest as planned, expecting to see Grand Bahama Island ahead. Instead, he saw a landmass to his right, the northern part of Abaco Island. Thinking this was Grand Bahama Island and believing his compass was broken, Taylor set a course southwest to return to Fort Lauderdale. However, this actually sent the plane farther northwest, toward open ocean.
Adding to the confusion, Taylor encountered islands north of Abaco that looked similar to the Key West Islands. The control tower advised Taylor’s team to fly west, which would eventually lead to Florida. Taylor followed this instruction, but because of the compass issue, he was actually heading northwest, almost parallel to Florida.
After flying this direction without seeing land, Taylor believed it was impossible to be so far west and not reach Florida. He thought he might be near the Key West Islands. This led to serious discussions between Taylor, his crew, and the control tower. Taylor was unsure whether he was near the Bahamas or Key West and was confused about his direction due to the compass malfunction. The control tower told Taylor he could not be near Key West because the wind that day did not blow in that direction. Some crew members believed the compass was working properly. Taylor then set a course northeast, which should have led to Florida if they were near Key West. When this failed, he set a course west, which should have led to Florida if they were near the Bahamas. If Taylor had continued on this course, he might have reached land before running out of fuel. However, he eventually decided to try heading northeast again, thinking they were near Key West. His flight ran out of fuel and likely crashed into the ocean somewhere north of Abaco Island and east of Florida.
Avenger wreckage mistaken for Flight 19 and other searches
In 1986, a wrecked Avenger plane was found near the Florida coast during a search for the Space Shuttle Challenger wreckage. In 1990, aviation archaeologist Jon Myhre recovered this wreck from the ocean floor. He believed it was one of the missing planes from Flight 19.
In 1991, Graham Hawkes led a search that found five Avenger planes near Florida. However, the numbers on their tails showed they were not from Flight 19. In 2004, a BBC documentary showed Hawkes returning with a new submersible 12 years later. He identified one plane by its bureau number (23990) as a flight lost at sea on October 9, 1943, over two years before Flight 19 (its crew survived). However, he could not confirm the other planes. The documentary stated, "Despite the odds, they are just a random collection of accidents that came to rest in the same place 12 miles [19 km] from home."
In March 2012, Hawkes said it suited him, his investors, and the Pentagon to let the story fade because it was expensive and time-consuming. He admitted no conclusive evidence was found, but a statistician he consulted suggested it might be Flight 19.
Records show that training accidents between 1942 and 1945 caused the loss of 95 aviation personnel from NAS Fort Lauderdale. In 1992, another search found scattered debris on the ocean floor, but nothing could be identified. In the 2000s, searchers expanded their area farther east into the Atlantic Ocean, but Flight 19’s remains have not been confirmed.
A 2015 newspaper report said a World War II-era warplane with Navy markings and two bodies was retrieved by the Navy in the mid-1960s after being found by a hunter near Sebastian, Florida. The Navy first said it was from Flight 19 but later changed its statement. Despite Freedom of Information Act requests in 2013, the names of the bodies remain unknown because the Navy lacks enough information.
A wrecked plane found in the Everglades in Broward County was incorrectly thought to be from Flight 19. However, it was later confirmed to be a TBM-3E that crashed on March 16, 1947, due to the pilot’s vertigo. The pilot, Ensign Ralph N. Wachob, died in the crash.
As of the 2020s, no trace of the five TBM Avengers or the PBM Mariner and the 27 missing aviators has been found. The most likely conclusion is that the Avengers ran out of fuel and landed in the ocean, and the PBM experienced a mid-air explosion.
In fiction
Flight 19 is shown in the 1977 science-fiction movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. At the beginning of the film, the airplanes are found in the Sonoran Desert, in perfect condition with full fuel tanks. This is one of several unexplained events that suggest possible alien activity. In the final scene of the movie, several men wearing uniforms from the US Navy during World War II are among the people returned to Earth from an alien spaceship. It is suggested that these men may be the crews of the planes from Flight 19 that appeared in the desert at the start of the movie, appearing to be the same age as when they disappeared. However, the names these men give do not match the names of the actual crews from the real Flight 19.
Flight 19 also appears in the 2006 direct-to-DVD movie Scooby-Doo! Pirates Ahoy!.