In the annals of history, you can find many cases when ships and aircraft, never reaching their destination, disappeared forever into the vast ocean expanses. That is only one Bermuda Triangle! But we will tell a story from another place …
Disappeared in the ocean
The whole world spread around the story that happened in December 1945, when the five American Avenger attack aircraft, which were performing a group training flight, disappeared in full force in the Triangle region. None of the aircraft returned to the base. A seaplane was sent to search for the missing or at least some of their traces, but it also disappeared as completely as the objects of its searches. The next mystery arose away from the ocean shores. On October 12, 1948, an Il-12 flew from Baku to Tbilisi, there were 10 people on board. He never arrived at his destination. Despite the undertaken careful searches, it was not possible to find any aircraft, or even its wreckage or human remains. But it was only a tiny Il-12. And more recently, the world has spread the news about the mysterious disappearance of a huge Boeing 777 with 227 passengers and 12 crew members on board. The airliner was on a routine flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. A whole armada of ships and aircraft from different countries was thrown in search of him. Alas, to no avail - the liner seemed to have dissolved in the waters of the Indian Ocean. There are rare cases when there was someone from among those who were on board, that of a ship or aircraft that suffered a catastrophe. Such a person could shed light on the circumstances of the catastrophe, but, unfortunately, he was not always in an adequate mental state. Such a person could shed light on the circumstances of the catastrophe, but, unfortunately, he was not always in an adequate mental state. Such a person could shed light on the circumstances of the catastrophe, but, unfortunately, he was not always in an adequate mental state.
But, much less often accidents happened, after which the aircraft in trouble returned, but already without those with whom it went on the flight. However, this is exactly what happened with the American airship "L-8".
Ordinary flight
Built in 1941, the L-8 airship was part of the 32nd Squadron of the US Navy. It was used mainly for patrolling the coastal Pacific waters. The object of the search here was Japanese submarines - since December 1941, a fierce war was going on in the Pacific Ocean. In accordance with its purpose, "L-8" was equipped with the most modern observation and communication devices. In addition, there were a pair of depth charges and a machine gun on board.
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On August 16, 1942, at 6 o'clock in the morning, L-8, led by a crew of Lieutenant Ernest Cody and Warrant Officer Charles Adams, set off for another flight that had already become routine. It was necessary to patrol over the ocean, making giant "eights" at low altitude. The flight began and was to end at the Moffett Field airship base located on Treasure Island in the San Francisco Bay. Sometimes mechanic Riley Hill participated in the flights along with the pilots, but this time he was ordered to remain at the base.
After about 2 hours of flight, Ernst Cody noticed an oil slick on the water, which he reported to the base. After that "L-8", having descended, circled over the water for some time. At the same time, the crew used lighting bombs. These maneuvers of the airship drew attention to the sailors of the nearby fishing and cargo ships.
The pilots no longer contacted the base. This continued until 9 o'clock, when the airship, unexpectedly gaining altitude, instead of continuing to patrol, headed towards San Francisco. The base dispatchers tried in vain to establish contact with the L-8, who were already alarmed by the silence of its crew. All aircraft and ships in the region were instructed to watch the skies with increased attention and report immediately to Moffett Field if an airship is seen.
The first, at about 10:30, the L-8 was noticed by the pilots of a Pan American passenger plane heading to San Francisco. Then, for another half hour, the airship was observed from two aircraft. Nobody noticed anything suspicious about L-8's behavior. But at about 11 o'clock the airship suddenly, sharply gaining altitude, disappeared into thick clouds. Half an hour later, "L-8" showed up again. Those who saw the L-8 again, flying slowly and very low over the coastal highway, drew attention to the slightly changed shape of the airship. He was photographed by one of the sailors. Later, his picture went on the front pages of many newspapers. When the device began to descend, it seemed to many who watched its descent that there was no one in its gondola. The propellers weren't spinning - it was clear the motors weren't working. The airship was rapidly losing altitude. Several peoplegrasping the ropes hanging from the airship, they tried to land it, but to no avail - even a dozen strong men were unable to stop even the colossus moving at a minimum speed. The L-8 first landed on a golf course. At the moment of hitting the ground near the airship, one of the depth charges fell from the suspension. The explosion did not occur, since the automatic blocking of the fuse removed it only at a certain predetermined sea depth. The airship, lightened after the loss of the bomb, took off from the ground and, flying a little more, crashed onto one of the streets in the outskirts of San Francisco. Its cylinders got stuck in the street wires, and the gondola, having badly damaged the facade of one of the buildings and two cars, remained motionless in an almost upright position.but unsuccessfully - to stop even the colossus moving at a minimum speed was beyond the strength of a dozen strong men. The L-8 first landed on a golf course. At the moment of hitting the ground near the airship, one of the depth charges fell from the suspension. The explosion did not occur, since the automatic blocking of the fuse removed it only at a certain predetermined sea depth. The airship, lightened after the loss of the bomb, took off from the ground and, flying a little more, crashed onto one of the streets in the outskirts of San Francisco. Its cylinders got stuck in the street wires, and the gondola, having badly damaged the facade of one of the buildings and two cars, remained motionless in an almost upright position.but unsuccessfully - to stop even the colossus moving at a minimum speed was beyond the strength of a dozen strong men. The L-8 first landed on a golf course. At the moment of hitting the ground near the airship, one of the depth charges fell from the suspension. The explosion did not occur, since the automatic blocking of the fuse removed it only at a certain predetermined sea depth. The airship, lightened after the loss of the bomb, took off from the ground and, flying a little more, crashed onto one of the streets in the outskirts of San Francisco. Its cylinders got stuck in the street wires, and the gondola, having badly damaged the facade of one of the buildings and two cars, remained motionless in an almost upright position. The explosion did not occur, since the automatic blocking of the fuse removed it only at a certain predetermined sea depth. The airship, lightened after the loss of the bomb, took off from the ground and, flying a little more, crashed onto one of the streets in the outskirts of San Francisco. Its cylinders got stuck in the street wires, and the gondola, having badly damaged the facade of one of the buildings and two cars, remained motionless in an almost upright position. The explosion did not occur, since the fuse blocking machine only removed it at a certain predetermined sea depth. The airship, lightened after the loss of the bomb, took off from the ground and, flying a little more, crashed onto one of the streets in the outskirts of San Francisco. Its cylinders got stuck in the street wires, and the gondola, having badly damaged the facade of one of the buildings and two cars, remained motionless in an almost upright position.
Where did the pilots disappear?
Of the two doors on the L-8 gondola, one was locked from the inside, the other, not locked, was in its normal position. It was immediately opened by police officers who were near the emergency landing site, even before the military arrived. Much to their surprise, there were no pilots in the gondola. The arriving military thoroughly examined the gondola and the entire structure of the airship. We even looked inside the gas cylinders, having previously vented the remaining helium from them. Nothing was found to explain the lack of a crew.
There was plenty of gasoline in the tanks. The lead suitcase with secret documents and codes, which was to be destroyed if there was a danger of being seized, remained intact in the gondola in its regular place. Also in their places were the machine gun and personal weapons of the pilots, their parachutes and an inflatable life raft. The radio was in good working order, its battery was not discharged. Only life jackets were missing, which pilots are required to put on when leaving in flight.
Further investigation showed that both airship engines were in good working order. Neither a detailed study of all the systems of the aircraft that had lost its crew, nor interviews with eyewitnesses of the last stage of its flight and landing did not bring the slightest clarity to the question of where, how and why the pilots disappeared. The Commission for Establishing the Causes of the Flight Accident reasonably believed that if the pilots were of sound mind, they would not voluntarily leave a completely serviceable car, moreover, abandoning personal life-saving equipment. But even if, for some unknown reason, they did it, then their bodies, in automatically inflated life jackets, would remain on the surface of the sea. In addition, the sailors observing the flight of the L-8 claimed that they could not help but notice the fall into the sea of two people in bright orange vests.
Naturally, the water area of the bay, coastal waters, and also the coastal strip were carefully examined. However, nobody and nothing was found. The suggestion that both pilots accidentally fell out of the gondola through the open door was refuted by a simple question - how they could close it behind them. We recalled the testimony of a certain lady - one of many eyewitnesses. It seemed to her that when the airship was already quite low, the silhouettes of THREE people were visible through the windows of its gondola. The police suggested that the third (unless he was imagined by the witness) could be an unknown killer who threw the bodies of his victims overboard. However, the bodies of the pilots were never found either at sea or on land. And finally, where did the "killer" go after the atrocity he committed? Anyway, when and how he could be on board the "L-8",where it is simply impossible to remain unnoticed?
After a year of unanswered investigations, both pilots were declared dead. The mystery of their disappearance has remained unsolved until now. A slightly injured during the landing "L-8" was restored, but was now used only for training purposes.
Journal: Forbidden History №10 (103). Author: Konstantin Rishes