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On December 5, 1945, during a training flight from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Flight 19, comprising five U.S. Navy aircraft, mysteriously disappeared over the Bermuda Triangle.
Recognizing the evident loss of the flight, air bases, aircraft, and merchant ships were put on alert. Subsequently, a Consolidated PBY Catalina took off after 18:00 to search for Flight 19 and provide guidance if their location could be determined.
Two Martin PBM Mariner flying boats were also deployed to search for the missing aircraft. One of the aircrafts, PBM-5 BuNo 59225, took off at 19:27 and then called in a routine radio message 3 minutes later. This would be the planes final ever message before it too disappeared.
The entire crew of Flight 19, consisting of 14 Naval Aviators, and all 13 crew members of a Martin PBM Mariner flying boat involved in the search for Flight 19 were lost.
According to Navy investigators, an initial report determined that flight leader Lt. Charles C. Taylor, mistakenly identified small islands offshore as the Florida Keys. This led the flight over open sea, away from land.
However, the Navy later amended the report to state "cause unknown".
The report attributed the PBM aircraft's loss to a mid-air explosion during the search for flight 17.
Recognizing the evident loss of the flight, air bases, aircraft, and merchant ships were put on alert. Subsequently, a Consolidated PBY Catalina took off after 18:00 to search for Flight 19 and provide guidance if their location could be determined.
Two Martin PBM Mariner flying boats were also deployed to search for the missing aircraft. One of the aircrafts, PBM-5 BuNo 59225, took off at 19:27 and then called in a routine radio message 3 minutes later. This would be the planes final ever message before it too disappeared.
The entire crew of Flight 19, consisting of 14 Naval Aviators, and all 13 crew members of a Martin PBM Mariner flying boat involved in the search for Flight 19 were lost.
According to Navy investigators, an initial report determined that flight leader Lt. Charles C. Taylor, mistakenly identified small islands offshore as the Florida Keys. This led the flight over open sea, away from land.
However, the Navy later amended the report to state "cause unknown".
The report attributed the PBM aircraft's loss to a mid-air explosion during the search for flight 17.
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