Flight 19 — U.S. Navy training flight of TBF Avengers which was lost in 1945
The loss of Flight 19 and a search aircraft killed 27 men and became a defining incident associated with the Bermuda Triangle mystery.
Key Facts
- Aircraft lost
- 5 TBF Avenger torpedo bombers
- Flight 19 crew lost
- 14 naval aviators
- Search aircraft lost
- 1 Martin PBM Mariner
- Search crew lost
- 13 crew members
- Total personnel lost
- 27
- Departure base
- Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale, Florida
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Lt. Charles C. Taylor, the flight leader, experienced compass failures during the overwater navigation training exercise. He mistook small offshore islands for the Florida Keys and directed the flight eastward over open sea rather than toward the Florida coast, leading the aircraft away from land as fuel dwindled.
On December 5, 1945, five U.S. Navy TBF Avenger bombers designated Flight 19 departed Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale and lost contact over the Atlantic. All five aircraft and their 14 aviators were never recovered. A Martin PBM Mariner search plane launched from Naval Air Station Banana River also disappeared, with all 13 crew members lost.
Navy investigators initially blamed Lt. Taylor but later amended the official finding to 'cause unknown.' The loss of 27 men and six aircraft with no wreckage recovered became one of the most cited disappearances in the Atlantic and contributed heavily to the popular mythology surrounding the Bermuda Triangle.