The disappearance of Flight 19 stands as one of the most puzzling cases in naval aviation history. On December 5, 1945, five General Motors TBM Avenger torpedo bombers took off from Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale in Florida for a routine training exercise. The lost naval squadron never returned home.
All 14 naval aviators aboard Flight 19 vanished without a trace over the Atlantic Ocean. The tragedy deepened when a Martin PBM Mariner search plane sent from Naval Air Station Banana River to find them disappeared too. Thirteen more crew members were lost that day, bringing the total missing to 27 men.
The December 5, 1945 incident triggered one of the largest search operations ever conducted. The Navy, Army, Coast Guard, and Royal Air Force deployed hundreds of ships and aircraft. They scoured more than 200,000 square miles of ocean between the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. Despite these massive efforts, searchers found no wreckage, oil slicks, or life rafts.
This naval aviation mystery helped create the legend of the Bermuda Triangle mystery that captivates people today. Eight decades later, the fate of Flight 19 remains unknown. No debris from the five bombers or the rescue plane has ever surfaced. The disappearance continues to puzzle investigators and fuel theories about unexplained historical phenomena in the region.
The Fateful Training Mission of December 5, 1945
On a seemingly ordinary afternoon at Fort Lauderdale Naval Air Station, five torpedo bombers prepared for what should have been a standard navigation exercise. The training mission December 5 1945 began at 2:10 PM Eastern Standard Time with pleasant weather conditions—67 degrees with scattered clouds and southwest trade winds. No one suspected this routine flight would become one of history’s most puzzling aviation incidents.
Weather Conditions and Flight Plan Details
The weather appeared favorable for flying when the squadron departed the naval air station. The sea state ranged from moderate to rough, typical for December off the Florida coast. A storm system approaching from Georgia would later bring challenging conditions:
- 40-mile-per-hour winds at 1,000 feet altitude
- Hurricane-force winds reaching 75 mph at 8,000 feet by 4:00 PM
- Increasing cloud cover throughout the afternoon
The Routine Navigation Exercise That Turned Tragic
Navigation Problem No. 1 consisted of a triangular route totaling 316 nautical miles. The bombers would fly east for bombing practice at Hens and Chickens Shoals, continue toward the Bahamas, turn north over Grand Bahama Island, and return southwest to Fort Lauderdale. This standard exercise tested pilots’ navigation skills over open water—a critical ability for naval aviators operating from the naval air facility.
Last Known Position Near Fort Lauderdale Naval Air Station
At 5:50 PM, land-based radio stations triangulated Flight 19’s position approximately 75 miles northeast of Cocoa, Florida. The squadron had slightly more than one hour of fuel remaining. This placed them north of the Bahamas, far from their intended route back to the naval air station. The aviation incident had already begun its mysterious progression from routine training to complete disappearance.
Flight 19 Squadron Composition and Crew Members
The doomed training flight consisted of five TBM Avenger aircraft carrying 14 naval personnel who would never return home. Each of these avenger torpedo bombers had specific identification numbers and carried experienced aviators alongside student pilots completing their advanced training at Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale.
Lieutenant Charles Taylor and His Experience
Lieutenant Charles Taylor, born in Texas on October 25, 1917, brought considerable experience to his role as flight leader. The 28-year-old had accumulated 2,509 flight hours, including 616 hours piloting TBM Avengers. His previous service record included combat operations with Scouting Squadron 62 and Squadron 7 aboard USS Hancock during Pacific Theater missions in 1944.
The Five Avenger Torpedo Bombers
The lost Navy Avengers included Taylor’s lead aircraft (FT-28) and four additional planes designated FT-36, FT-81, FT-3, and FT-117. Each TBM Avenger aircraft typically carried a three-man crew consisting of a pilot, radioman-gunner, and turret gunner. Pre-flight inspections revealed all planes had full fuel tanks but were missing their clocks.
Complete Roster of the 14 Lost Naval Aviators
The Taylor Navy flight included both instructors and students:
- Aircraft FT-28: Lieutenant Charles Taylor, George Devlin, Walter Parpart
- Aircraft FT-36: Captain Edward Powers, Howell Thompson, George Paonessa
- Aircraft FT-81: Second Lieutenant Forrest Gerber, William Lightfoot (flying one man short)
- Aircraft FT-3: Ensign Joseph Bossi, Herman Thelander, Burt Baluk
- Aircraft FT-117: Captain George Stivers, Robert Gallivan, Robert Gruebel
Student pilots aboard the avenger torpedo bombers had approximately 300 total flight hours with 60 hours specifically in TBM Avengers.
Timeline of the Disappearance and Lost Communications
The lost patrol began its journey at 2:10 PM on December 5, 1945, departing Fort Lauderdale Naval Air Station nearly 25 minutes behind schedule. Lieutenant Charles Taylor had arrived late, delaying what should have been a routine training exercise over the eastern Atlantic waters.
By 3:00 PM, the squadron completed their bombing practice at Hens and Chickens Shoals. Everything appeared normal until 3:40 PM when Lieutenant Robert Cox, flying another aircraft nearby, intercepted a disturbing transmission. He heard an unidentified voice saying, “I don’t know where we are. We must have got lost after that last turn.” This marked the beginning of the naval aviation disaster that would puzzle investigators for decades.
The situation deteriorated rapidly throughout the afternoon. Key moments in the aircraft disappearance included:
- 4:45 PM – Taylor radioed he was heading 030 degrees, trying to avoid the Gulf of Mexico
- 4:56 PM – Course changed to 090 degrees east for 10 minutes
- 5:24 PM – Taylor decided to fly west at 270 degrees until reaching land
- 5:50 PM – Radio operators triangulated the squadron within 100 miles of coordinates 29°N 79°W
The final transmission came between 6:20 PM and 7:04 PM. Taylor’s last words revealed the grim reality facing the missing aircraft 1945 incident: “All planes close up tight…we’ll have to ditch unless landfall…when the first plane drops below 10 gallons, we all go down together.” After this message, the five Avengers vanished completely. The mysterious circumstances surrounding their disappearance would later fuel countless theories about the region.
The Confusion Over Compass Malfunctions and Navigation Errors
At 3:40 PM, the Bermuda Triangle disappearance took a critical turn when Lieutenant Charles Taylor reported both his compasses had failed. His distressed message revealed the depth of his disorientation as the torpedo bombers vanished from their planned route. Taylor believed he was flying over the Florida Keys, hundreds of miles from his actual position.
Taylor’s Belief He Was Over the Florida Keys
Taylor transmitted a troubling message that would become central to the Ft Lauderdale mystery. He stated he was over land that appeared broken, convinced he had reached the Keys but uncertain how far south he had traveled. Navy investigators later determined Taylor had actually mistaken the Bahamas islands for the Florida Keys. He likely overshot Gorda Cay and reached the southern Abaco Islands, seeing northern Abaco to his right which he confused with Grand Bahama Island.
Radio Transmissions Between Flight Leader and Base
The radio exchanges paint a picture of growing desperation in this naval air mystery. Taylor refused to switch from the training frequency to the emergency channel at 3000 kHz, insisting he needed to keep his planes together. One frustrated crew member was heard saying they should just fly west to get home, but military discipline prevented the students from breaking formation despite their leader’s confusion.
Lieutenant Robert Cox’s Attempts to Guide the Lost Squadron
Lieutenant Robert Cox, flying in FT-74, tried to help the lost squadron find their way back. He advised Taylor to put the sun on his port wing and fly north along the coast to reach Fort Lauderdale. The control tower prepared a search plane but ultimately grounded all aircraft as conditions worsened. This Flight 19 conspiracy deepened as Cox’s guidance failed to bring the squadron home.
The PBM Mariner Rescue Mission That Also Vanished
The tragedy of Flight 19 became even darker when a rescue plane sent to find the lost navy squadron disappeared without a trace. This second disappearance added another layer to what would become the most famous naval aviation mystery in American history.
The Launch from Naval Air Station Banana River
At 7:27 PM on December 5, 1945, a PBM-5 Mariner flying boat took off from Naval Air Station Banana River in Melbourne, Florida. The base is now known as Patrick Air Force Base. Lieutenant Walter Jeffery commanded the rescue plane with twelve other crew members aboard. Their mission was clear: find the missing aircraft of Flight 19.
Just three minutes after takeoff, the Mariner sent a routine radio message. The crew reported they were approaching the last known position of Flight 19. That transmission at 7:30 PM was the final communication from the rescue plane. Like the planes they searched for, this naval aircraft vanished into the night.
The Gaines Mills Explosion Sighting at Sea
At 9:15 PM, the tanker SS Gaines Mills witnessed a massive explosion off the coast of New Smyrna Beach. Captain Shonna Stanley reported flames shooting 100 feet into the air. The fire burned for ten minutes before disappearing into the dark ocean. The ship searched the area but found only an oil slick and aviation fuel on the water’s surface. No survivors were spotted in the wreckage zone.
The USS Solomons carrier confirmed losing radar contact at the exact time and location of the explosion. The PBM Mariner could carry nearly ten tons of aviation fuel. These planes had a dangerous flaw – fuel lines that could break loose in rough weather. This design problem made the aircraft vulnerable to explosions, explaining the tragic end to the rescue mission in the Bermuda Triangle waters.
The Massive Search and Rescue Operation
The training mission disappearance triggered what became the largest peacetime rescue effort in American history. Within hours of losing contact with the Fort Lauderdale training flight, the Navy mobilized an unprecedented response that would span several days and cover vast stretches of ocean and land.
The search operation involved an extraordinary coalition of military resources:
- 248 Navy planes scanning the waters
- The USS Solomons aircraft carrier leading 18 surface vessels
- Six aircraft from the Third Air Force
- 120 planes from Navy Air Advanced Training Command
- Coast Guard cutters and aircraft
- Royal Air Force units from Nassau
Search teams systematically covered more than 200,000 square miles of the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. The Coast Guard’s Seventh Naval District headquarters in Miami coordinated this massive effort. Every available pilot flew grueling missions searching for any sign of the aviation mystery that had claimed 14 aviators.
Naval Reserve Captain Frank Dailey from Alpharetta, Georgia, piloted his PBY seaplane for three consecutive days, flying six-hour patrols along the Florida coastline. Lieutenant David White, a Senior Flight Instructor at Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale, remembered receiving an urgent 5 a.m. alert. He spent the next three days flying at low altitudes with his assistant instructor and 20 students, searching desperately for any trace of the missing squadron.
Despite the exhaustive effort, not a single piece of wreckage was discovered. The Flight 19 disappearance had left no physical evidence behind, deepening the mystery that continues to puzzle investigators today.
Navy Investigation Findings and Controversial Conclusions
The Navy launched an extensive investigation into the disappearance of Flight 19, producing a 500-page report that sparked immediate controversy. The board’s initial findings placed blame squarely on one person, igniting a years-long battle that would reshape how the military handled the tragedy of the lost naval squadron.
The Initial Blame on Lieutenant Taylor
Navy investigators concluded that Lieutenant Charles Taylor made critical navigation errors that sealed the fate of Flight 19. The report stated Taylor mistakenly identified small islands as the Florida Keys, believing his squadron was over the Gulf of Mexico. According to the board, Taylor led his men northeast toward what he thought was Florida, when they had actually passed over the Bahamas on schedule.
The investigation accused Taylor of “mental aberration” for refusing to switch his radio from the training frequency to the emergency channel. Cuban radio stations created interference that complicated rescue efforts from Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale. The board noted that junior officers probably knew their actual position based on radio chatter suggesting they should fly west to reach the mainland.
Katherine Taylor’s Successful Campaign to Exonerate Her Son
Katherine Taylor refused to accept the Navy’s verdict against her son Charles. She argued that without recovered bodies or aircraft wreckage, blaming him for the Bermuda Triangle mystery was unfair and premature. Her persistent efforts challenged the official narrative of the tragedy.
The Amended Report Citing “Cause Unknown”
In 1947, Katherine Taylor’s campaign achieved success. The Board for Correction of Naval Records reviewed the case and exonerated Lieutenant Taylor. The amended report changed the official conclusion from pilot error to simply “cause unknown,” removing direct blame for the loss of five aircraft and fourteen men.
Failed Attempts to Locate the Missing Aircraft Over Eight Decades
Since the missing aircraft 1945 incident, numerous expeditions have searched for Flight 19 without success. The quest to find these planes has become one of the most enduring mysteries in naval aviation disaster history, with each discovery raising hopes only to end in disappointment.
In 1986, during the Space Shuttle Challenger recovery operations, divers found Avenger wreckage on the ocean floor. Aviation archaeologist Jon Myhre raised this aircraft in 1990, believing it might be part of the lost patrol. Bureau numbers later proved it wasn’t from Flight 19.
Graham Hawkes led an expedition in 1991 that discovered five Avengers off the Florida coast. The tail numbers revealed these planes weren’t connected to the infamous aircraft disappearance. A BBC documentary in 2004 showed Hawkes identifying one plane by bureau number 23990 as an aircraft lost on October 9, 1943—two years before the Bermuda Triangle incident.
Strange claims emerged in 2015 when reports suggested the Navy had secretly recovered a warplane with two bodies near Sebastian, Florida, in the mid-1960s. Officials initially linked it to Flight 19 before retracting the statement. Freedom of Information Act requests filed in 2013 failed to reveal the identities of these aviators.
Even discoveries in the Everglades proved misleading. A TBM-3E found there, once thought connected to the 1945 disappearance, actually crashed on March 16, 1947, killing Ensign Ralph Wachob due to vertigo.
The Bermuda Triangle Connection and Popular Culture Impact
The disappearance of Flight 19 became the cornerstone of the Bermuda Triangle mystery, transforming a naval air mystery into one of the world’s most captivating legends. This triangular area stretching from Fort Lauderdale to Bermuda and down to Puerto Rico gained its notorious reputation partly because of this incident. The Lost Squadron’s fate sparked countless theories about why aircraft and ships vanish in these waters.
How Flight 19 Sparked the Triangle Legend
The Bermuda Triangle disappearance of Flight 19 marked the beginning of public fascination with this mysterious region. The area extends from the southern U.S. coast across to Bermuda and down along the Atlantic coast of Cuba and Santo Domingo. Dozens of aircraft and boats have reportedly vanished here since 1945, but Flight 19 remains the most famous case that cemented the legend in popular imagination.
Appearances in Films and Television Programs
Major networks have featured the Flight 19 conspiracy in numerous documentaries. The History Channel, Discovery, National Geographic, and BBC regularly examine this naval air mystery. The NAS Fort Lauderdale Museum assists these productions with research materials. In 2005, U.S. Representative Clay Shaw even sponsored H. Resolution 500 in Congress to honor the 60th anniversary of the disappearance.
Close Encounters and Other Fictional Portrayals
Steven Spielberg’s 1977 film Close Encounters of the Third Kind featured the missing TBM Avengers discovered in the Sonoran Desert with full fuel tanks. The movie showed crew members in World War II naval aviator uniforms returning from an alien mothership. The 2006 animated film Scooby-Doo! Pirates Ahoy! incorporated the Bermuda Triangle story into its plot, introducing younger audiences to this enduring mystery.
Conclusion
The disappearance of Flight 19 stands as one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in naval aviation history. Eighty years have passed since that December 5, 1945 training mission went wrong, yet no one has found definitive proof of what happened to the 14 naval aviators. The lost naval squadron most likely ran out of fuel after navigation errors sent them far out over the Atlantic Ocean. Lieutenant David White suggested the planes crashed into rough seas about 60 miles east of Daytona Beach, comparing the impact to hitting a brick wall at high speed.
The tragedy grew worse when a PBM Mariner rescue plane vanished while searching for Flight 19. The rescue aircraft likely exploded in mid-air, taking 13 more crew members with it. In total, 27 servicemen lost their lives that day. Despite extensive searches covering thousands of square miles of ocean and coastline, no confirmed wreckage or bodies from either the training squadron or rescue plane have ever been recovered.
What started as a routine training accident became the foundation of the Bermuda Triangle mystery. The disappearance of Flight 19 has inspired countless books, documentaries, and movies that explore this naval aviation mystery. Each December 5th, the NAS Fort Lauderdale Museum holds memorial ceremonies to honor the lost servicemen. While theories about the lost naval squadron continue to emerge, the truth about what happened to these brave aviators remains hidden beneath the waves.
The case of Flight 19 reminds us that even with modern technology and decades of searching, some mysteries refuse to be solved. The Bermuda Triangle mystery lives on through this tragic story, keeping alive the memory of 27 men who vanished without a trace during what should have been a simple training exercise.