Expedition Bermuda Triangle: Unraveling Flight 19's Mystery

The Bermuda Triangle continues to captivate adventurers and investigators alike with stories of unexplained disappearances of ships and aircraft.
Among the most famous is Flight 19, a squadron of five TBM Avenger torpedo bombers that vanished without a trace in December 1945.

The Legend of the Bermuda Triangle

Stretching from the coast of Florida through Bermuda to Puerto Rico, the Bermuda Triangle has earned nicknames such as the “graveyard of the Atlantic,” the “Who Do Sea,” and simply “the Triangle.” Over the decades, nearly 100 ships and planes are reported to have vanished within its loosely defined boundaries. Some losses date back centuries, from small fishing vessels lost in sudden storms to commercial aircraft failing to reach distant destinations. Currents such as the Gulf Stream carve powerful paths that can carry debris miles from an original crash site, while weather systems—including hurricanes and white squalls—can spring up with little warning, all adding to the region’s fearsome reputation.

Eyewitness accounts of strange lights, malfunctioning compasses, and eerie fog formations have been woven into the Triangle’s lore, and disappearing objects ranging from small boats to large freighters have fueled theories of underwater crystal pyramids, alien abductions, time warps, and secret military testing. Yet amid the sensational headlines and popular documentaries, one unanswered question remains: what truly happened to Flight 19? The disappearance of those five Avenger bombers—and the rescue plane sent after them—eclipsed earlier losses and immortalized this single case as the Bermuda Triangle’s greatest unsolved mystery.

Flight 19’s Fateful Mission

On December 5, 1945, five TBM Avenger torpedo bombers took off from Fort Lauderdale Naval Air Station at 2:20 p.m. local time on a routine training mission that was expected to last just over two hours. Each Avenger carried a crew of three, totaling fourteen men under the command of Lieutenant Charles Taylor, an experienced pilot with around 2,500 flight hours logged—some of which included combat missions in the Pacific theater. Weather reports indicated unlimited visibility and blue skies; nonetheless, the sea was choppy, and the wind was kicking up.

By approximately 3:40 p.m., signs of trouble surfaced when Taylor radioed, “The compasses are out. We’re lost.” Powers, one of the student pilots, replied, “Damn it. We need to fly west. If we fly west, we will get home.” Meanwhile, back at Fort Lauderdale, Lieutenant Robert Cox—another flight instructor—overheard the transmissions. Taylor believed the squadron was over the Florida Keys, while Cox knew from radio bearings that they were actually far east over open water, northeast of the Bahamas. At 17:50 military time (5:50 p.m.), the Navy triangulated a rough fix placing Flight 19 roughly 100 nautical miles northeast of Fort Lauderdale, deep into what is now considered the heart of the Triangle [verify]. Despite instructions to fly northeast toward Miami and then back to base, the bombers vanished into the fading daylight and were never seen again.

As darkness fell, the Navy launched the largest search operation in its history, dispatching ships and aircraft over thousands of square nautical miles. Hours later, a Martin Mariner rescue plane carrying thirteen crew members also set off to locate the missing Avengers—and it too disappeared without a trace. By the end of December 6, twenty-seven men were presumed lost to the Triangle, and no wreckage, bodies, or definitive clues had been recovered.

Early Search Operations and Official Reports

The disappearance of Flight 19 prompted an immediate emergency response. Between December 5 and December 7, the Navy deployed destroyers, patrol boats, and aircraft to scour a search area twice the size of Rhode Island. Sonar technology of the era was rudimentary, and there were no precise underwater mapping tools available. Surface searches turned up only some oil slicks and loose debris typical of training exercises, but nothing conclusively tied to the missing bombers or the rescue seaplane.

In January 1946, the Navy convened a Board of Inquiry to review all available evidence, including radio transcripts, witness statements, and navigational fixes. Their final report concluded that Taylor likely became disoriented, leading his flight eastward over open sea instead of westward toward land. With fuel exhausted, the group presumably ditched their aircraft upon water, but no survivors or floating wreckage were documented. As for the Martin Mariner, conflicting accounts suggested it exploded in mid-air—one passing freighter reported seeing a bright fireball at approximately the same time—but no physical remains of the rescue plane were ever examined. The Board officially listed the loss as “missing at sea, presumed crashed,” leaving families and historians to grapple with unanswered questions about navigational errors, instruments failures, and human factors under stress.

Modern Technology in Deep Sea Exploration

Decades after the 1945 inquiry, deep sea explorer Rob Craft mounted what has been described as the biggest search for Flight 19 yet. Aboard the research vessel RV Petrol—outfitted with a suite of cutting-edge equipment including autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), ultra-high-definition cameras, and multi-beam sonar—Craft’s team has surveyed large swaths of the Triangle’s ocean floor. AUVs can dive to depths exceeding 3,000 m, following preprogrammed grid patterns and emitting sonar pings to build detailed undersea maps. When sonar identifies an unnatural shape, remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) are deployed to visually inspect targets.

“There is no smoking gun here,” Craft concedes, acknowledging the enormity of the search area and the age of the wrecks. “We have to put ourselves back in 1945 and understand what these men were going through.” Yet he also points to past successes, noting that since 2017, RV Petrol has discovered more than 30 World War II shipwrecks and hundreds of aircraft resting in low-oxygen deep water, where corrosion is significantly slowed by cold temperatures and minimal currents.

“It’s really about them and the service these men gave for their country and paid the ultimate sacrifice,” Craft reflects as the ROV descends into the darkness. “If we can find an aircraft, we can finally solve this mystery.”

Despite formidable challenges—shifting sediments, powerful undersea currents, and the sheer scale of potential search squares—the team methodically covers sector after sector, ruling out false positives such as geological formations, fishing gear, and modern trash.

Uncovering Onshore Leads and Artifacts

While the offshore search pressed on, historian David O’Keefe and investigator Wayne Abbott probed the possibility that one or more Avengers may have made it back to land. They pored over Navy archives, analyzed radio transcripts, and interviewed witnesses. One notable lead came from Graeme Stike Leather, who claimed that in 1962, as a nine-year-old boy, he and his father discovered a plane wreck near Barrow Beach, Florida. The Navy initially told the judge who reported the find that it belonged to Flight 19, then later denied any knowledge of the incident.

Pushing further, O’Keefe and Abbott examined pieces of wreckage allegedly recovered from that site, including fragments of fuselage and a .50 caliber machine gun mount bearing a serial number. According to Avenger armament logs, each weapon was meticulously tracked by serial number. If matched in naval ordnance records, the gun could be tied to a specific TBM aircraft and its crew manifest. After extensive archival requests, however, the team hit a roadblock: the War and Navy Department records of 1945 are disorganized and partially classified, and no documentation corresponding to the serial number has surfaced. O’Keefe suspects bureaucratic lapses during the war’s demobilization may explain missing files, though some allege a deliberate cover-up by officials intent on keeping details confidential.

Adding another layer of intrigue, Abbott and O’Keefe located the daughter of Lieutenant Robert Cox—Colby Cox—who revealed that her father believed he could have redirected Flight 19 safely if allowed to return to the air after first contact. Cox claimed his request to swap into a ready aircraft was inexplicably denied, possibly due to a high-level party the night before that left key personnel impaired. While no hard evidence corroborates a “whitewashed” inquiry, the story underscores how human factors beyond equipment failures may have contributed to the tragedy.

Scientific Hypotheses vs. Supernatural Theories

Seasoned scientist and wreck diver Mike Barnett has spent over 30 years investigating the Bermuda Triangle, or as he dubs it, “the triangle.” An advocate for rational explanations, Barnett points to environmental phenomena such as methane hydrate eruptions, fierce currents, and rapidly changing weather systems. Large undersea gas pockets can destabilize, sending methane bubbles rising to the surface and momentarily reducing water density. In theory, a massive bubble could sink a vessel by depriving its hull of buoyant support or create violent turbulence capable of downing aircraft.

Meanwhile, popular culture has woven a tapestry of alien encounters, time warps, and mystical vortexes to explain Triangle losses. Headlines about Navy pilots encountering UFOs over the Atlantic in 2004 and again in 2017 have only fueled speculation. But Barnett emphasizes that engineering failures and navigational disorientation—compounded by human stress—remain the most plausible factors.

“People want a single cause—a sensational explanation—but real accidents involve a cascade of events,” Barnett says. By combining historic weather data, ship and aircraft logs, and eyewitness reports, he maintains that science can demystify even the Triangle’s most notorious disappearances, including Flight 19.

Pandemic Pause and Renewed Pursuit

In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced RV Petrol to dock for an extended maintenance period, suspending all offshore operations and shutting down relevant archives due to health restrictions. Craft and his technicians lost access to the vessel’s advanced sensors for seven months, delaying further searches. Undeterred, Craft assembled a leaner team and collaborated with treasure hunters Micah Eldrid and Dan Taylor—experts in deep-sea surveys for colonial-era shipwrecks. This ad hoc group focused on a promising anomaly, dubbed Target 77, identified outside the primary grid but still within Flight 19’s maximum range.

Onboard the chartered Go America, they navigated rough seas and unpredictable weather, deploying ROVs to investigate potential airplane-sized objects on the seabed. Each dive yielded nonmilitary wrecks—a discarded fridge, a jet transport, and a Cessna flown to safety after running out of fuel—yet the persistence of false positives only sharpened their resolve. Concurrently, Barnett regrouped his coastal dive team, using testimonies from commercial fishermen to pinpoint clusters of wrecks within 80 mi of shore. High currents and shifting sand hampered one critical dive, ripping out guide lines before divers could identify an underwater site. As storms gathered, time became the enemy for both offshore and nearshore researchers.

Conclusion

After nearly eight decades of speculation, the disappearance of Flight 19 remains one of the Bermuda Triangle’s most enduring puzzles. Offshore, Rob Craft’s high-tech expeditions have refined search grids and ruled out countless targets. On land, David O’Keefe and Wayne Abbott continue to chase documentary leads and witness testimonies. Mike Barnett’s scientific investigations into methane hydrate eruptions, weather anomalies, and undersea currents offer rational frameworks that challenge paranormal narratives.

Still, each new artifact—whether an Avenger wreck, a Martin Mariner search plane, or a mysterious telegram—could finally bring closure to the families of twenty-seven lost servicemen. The quest to solve the Flight 19 mystery persists, driven by cutting-edge technology, archival detective work, and the unwavering belief that even the Triangle’s darkest secrets can be illuminated.

• Boldly coordinate scientific data, modern sonar mapping, and archival research to pursue a comprehensive search for Flight 19.