At 2 p.m. on December 5, 1945, five U.S. Navy torpedo bombers took off from the Naval Air Station in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. They flew into the so-called Bermuda Triangle, an area stretching from Miami to Bermuda and down to Puerto Rico. At the time, the Bermuda Triangle was notorious for the number of ships and planes that mysteriously disappeared without trace, leaving researchers at a loss to explain.
Despite warnings, the five-plane squadron was on a training mission called Flight 19. Leading the flight was Lieutenant Charles Taylor, an experienced pilot with more than 2,500 hours of flying time. Their mission was to fly east, drop practice bombs on Hensen Chicken Reef, then fly north over Grand Bahama Island and return to Fort Lauderdale.
At first, everything went smoothly. The weather was mostly clear, with only a chance of scattered rain. Flight 19 completed its bomb drop and began flying north. However, at around 3:45 p.m., Lieutenant Taylor radioed the control tower, panicking that he could not see land and believing that the crew had lost their way. Despite attempts to contact the control tower, they were met with silence. When radio contact was restored, another pilot in the flight said they could not determine a westward direction and that everything looked strange, including the ocean below.
The situation worsened, to the point that Lieutenant Taylor had to hand over command to another pilot. Communications became erratic and disorganized, and the pilots appeared to panic. Eventually, Flight 19 lost contact completely. The US Navy and Coast Guard launched a massive search, scouring more than 250,000 square miles of the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, but found no trace of Flight 19 or its 14 crew members.
During the investigation, it was discovered that the pilots had compass problems – a phenomenon that is frequently reported in the Bermuda Triangle. Lieutenant Taylor confused his position, thinking he was flying over the Florida Keys and trying to navigate towards the mainland, when in fact they were near Grand Bahama Island. Magnetic disturbances in the area can cause compasses to be off by as little as 10 degrees. Ultimately, due to being lost and running out of fuel, Flight 19 may have crashed into the sea near Abaco Island.
In addition to Flight 19, two rescue planes sent to search for the plane also disappeared after losing radio contact. Witnesses on nearby ships reported seeing an explosion in the sky – possibly a fuel leak, as this type of rescue plane is known to have fuel-related problems.
The Bermuda Triangle compass disturbances are thought to be related to large amounts of magnetite – the most powerful naturally occurring magnetic mineral – that have accumulated in the area due to the remains of an ancient submarine volcano. This massive amount of magnetite can cause compasses to point to the geographic North Pole instead of the magnetic North Pole, causing major navigational errors.
Another theory suggests that “methane outbursts” on the seafloor could also be responsible for the disappearances. Methane accumulates on the seafloor in the form of hydrates, and can erupt when the seafloor shifts or the water temperature increases. If the eruption is large enough, the methane gas can dilute the water’s density, causing ships to lose buoyancy or set off aircraft engines.
The disappearance of Flight 19 is just one of many mysteries involving the Bermuda Triangle, including the disappearance of the Star Tiger in 1948. The Star Tiger, piloted by a veteran pilot, disappeared less than two hours from Bermuda, leaving no trace despite a massive search that lasted several days.
Another incident that occurred that same year involved a DC-3 carrying 28 passengers and three crew members from Puerto Rico to Miami. Before takeoff, the plane experienced problems with its electrical and radio systems, but the pilot decided to take off anyway. During the journey, radio signals were erratic, at times failing to contact Miami airport but being picked up by New Orleans, 600 miles away. Ultimately, the DC-3 disappeared completely at sea, leaving no trace despite a massive search.
Despite the many theories put forward – from mechanical failure, pilot error, magnetic interference to methane gas outbreaks – the Bermuda Triangle remains one of the greatest mysteries in the aviation and maritime industries to this day.
