On December 5, 1945, Flight 19, consisting of five torpedo bombers, received a training mission to fly from the naval airbase in Fort Lauderdale, Florida to the east, drop bombs near Bimini Island, then fly some distance north and go back
The estimated time to complete the assignment was about two hours. At 14 hours 10 minutes, the link took off. The bombing area was 90 kilometers east of the airbase, the planes successfully reached it and dropped bombs. Then the command slightly changed the task. The link was ordered to fly another 100 kilometers to the east, then turn north and fly 120 kilometers, then turn around and return to the base - this is another 220 kilometers. In total, in this training flight, taking into account the amendments to the original assignment, the pilots had to cover a little more than 500 kilometers.
At the base, the planes were already awaiting the return of the aircraft, when at 16:00 the conversation between the commander of Flight 19 and the pilot of another plane was intercepted. It was clear from their negotiations that the planes had lost their bearings. Later, the flight commander contacted the base and said that the Avengers were in an emergency. On all bombers, both compasses and clocks were out of order, as a result of which the pilots lost their orientation and, accordingly, could not find a direction to the base. I must say that the Avengers were well equipped for their time. For orientation in space, they had two compasses “on board”. One is a magnetic compass known to all, and the second is a radio compass, constantly indicating the location of the base. Getting lost with such equipment, being close to the continent, was very difficult. From the airbase they gave the command to keep to the west,which was not at all difficult to do, guided by the sun.
The response of the pilots confused the command - "we are not able to determine where the west is", moreover, the flight commander is also credited with the message that "the ocean looks unusual." Further attempts to give instructions to the link from the base were unsuccessful due to interference from Cuban radio stations and atmospheric phenomena. It was hoped that the pilots would still find their way home on their own. At 4:45 pm, the flight commander was able to contact the base again. He said that they are over the Gulf of Mexico. This was impossible, because the indicated place was on the completely opposite side of the horizon. The base ordered the flight commander to transfer control to another pilot, but he refused to do so. At 17:00 it became finally clear that the link would not be able to find its way back on its own. The pilots were on the verge of a nervous breakdown, one of them shouted: "Damn it, if we flew west, we would have got home!" At 1722 hours, the flight commander announced: "When someone has 10 gallons of fuel left, we will splash down!" At 17 hours 50 minutes a weak signal of the flight's aircraft was detected on the shore. They were east of New Smyrna Beach, Florida and continued to fly in a northeast direction, that is, more and more away from the mainland. But they could not transmit this information to the planes due to strong interference in radio communications. Meanwhile, it was already very dark. At 18 hours 02 minutes on the ground heard the phrase: "… At any minute can sink …", this could mean that the planes landed on the water."Whenever someone has 10 gallons of fuel left, we will splash down!" At 17 hours 50 minutes a weak signal of the flight's aircraft was detected on the shore. They were east of New Smyrna Beach, Florida and continued to fly in a northeast direction, that is, more and more away from the mainland. But they could not transmit this information to the planes due to strong interference in radio communications. Meanwhile, it was already very dark. At 18 hours 02 minutes on the ground heard the phrase: "… At any minute can sink …", this could mean that the planes landed on the water."Whenever someone has 10 gallons of fuel left, we will splash down!" At 17 hours 50 minutes a weak signal of the flight's aircraft was detected on the shore. They were east of New Smyrna Beach, Florida and continued to fly in a northeast direction, that is, more and more away from the mainland. But they could not transmit this information to the planes due to strong interference in radio communications. Meanwhile, it was already very dark. At 18 hours 02 minutes on the ground heard the phrase: "… At any minute can sink …", this could mean that the planes landed on the water. But they could not transmit this information to the planes due to strong interference in radio communications. Meanwhile, it was already very dark. At 18 hours 02 minutes on the ground heard the phrase: "… At any minute can sink …", this could mean that the planes landed on the water. But they could not transmit this information to the planes due to strong interference in radio communications. Meanwhile, it was already very dark. At 18 hours 02 minutes on the ground heard the phrase: "… At any minute can sink …", this could mean that the planes landed on the water.
The command of the airbase began a search and rescue operation. Two Martin Mariner search planes took off. Aircraft of this type could land on water, fly in any weather and stay in the air all day. All vessels in the area of the proposed splashdown of Link 19 were also involved in the search. There was another loss here. This time with one of the search aircraft "Martin Mariner", which never returned to the base, although one of the ships saw an explosion in the air, perhaps the plane had a fuel leak, which led to a catastrophe, not for nothing the pilots called "Martin Mariner" " Flying gas tank ". The search expedition did not find any traces of the Avengers. Five days later, on December 10, the search was stopped.
However, the US Navy finds nothing mystical about what happened to Link 19. Firstly, only the flight commander, Lieutenant Taylor, could be considered an experienced pilot, the rest were just cadets who had flown no more than 400 hours by that time, of which the Avengers had only 55 hours, for comparison - their commander had flown about 2500 hours. True, Taylor himself was recently seconded to the airbase in Fort Lauderdale, that is, the exercise area was quite new for him, by the way, just before the flight, he asked to be replaced, because he felt unwell, but the command refused. It is noteworthy that Taylor was not the only one who did not want to fly on this mission. The shooter of one of the Avengers also felt that something was amiss and arbitrarily removed himself from the flight. Secondly, the weather conditions for the task are assessed as medium - low cloudiness,visibility is about ten miles, and in places of heavy rain only six miles. It is noted that the sea was rough that day. Another important circumstance. The Bermuda Triangle region is one of two places on Earth where the magnetic compass needle points not to the magnetic North Pole, but to the geographic one. This is called the declination of the magnetic compass. The second such place is located off the coast of Japan. Of course, this fact is known even to novices in flying, but if we assume that the pilots forgot about declination at some point in the flight, the course of the aircraft could deviate significantly.where the needle of the magnetic compass points not to the magnetic North Pole, but to the geographic one. This is called the declination of the magnetic compass. The second such place is located off the coast of Japan. Of course, this fact is known even to novices in flying, but if we assume that the pilots forgot about declination at some point in the flight, the course of the aircraft could deviate significantly.where the needle of the magnetic compass points not to the magnetic North Pole, but to the geographic one. This is called the declination of the magnetic compass. The second such place is located off the coast of Japan. Of course, this fact is known even to novices in flying, but if we assume that the pilots forgot about declination at some point in the flight, the course of the aircraft could deviate significantly.
On the other hand, there are many incomprehensible things in this story. Firstly, it looks rather strange that the pilots got lost, even taking into account the limited visibility and problems with the instruments. It is hard to imagine why the professional pilots who know the technique of orienteering on the ground did not manage to determine the course for two whole hours.
Secondly, the fact of failure of compasses operating on completely different principles, and on all aircraft immediately suggests that Link 19 has encountered something very unusual.
Thirdly, as already mentioned, apparently at 18 o'clock the Avengers landed on the water. But the point is that they should have had enough fuel for up to 20 hours. That is, for another two whole hours they could search for land. How can you explain the decision to land in the ocean? Some researchers believe that by 6 pm the Avengers were really out of fuel. This could happen if the planes fell into a time anomaly, in which the normal course of time accelerated. In this case, Link 19 could simply fly over the Florida Peninsula and be much farther west than they expected. And finally, the last one. There is evidence from a certain radio amateur who claims that on December 5, 1945, he accidentally intercepted radio traffic between the pilots of Link 19. The last thing he heard was: "Don't follow me … They look like people from the Universe …". It is not possible to verify the validity of this message.
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LOST UNCERTAINLY?
In 1991, the search vessel Deep Sea, 20 kilometers northeast of Fort Lauderdale, discovered four Avengers lying in formation at a depth of 250 meters. After some time, two kilometers from the four, they found another Avenger. Further investigation of the finds showed that the planes were landing on water - their propeller blades were bent and the cockpit lights were open. The side numbers were as follows - "FT-241", "FT-87" and two planes were able to see only the numbers - "120" and "28", on the fifth side it was not possible to read the number. The letter designation "FT" indicated that the aircraft belonged to the Fort Lauderdale base. The military raised the archives. It turned out that in the entire history of the Atlantic Ocean fell 139 aircraft of the "Avenger", moreover, a group of five aircraft disappeared only once - on December 5, 1945. But the missing link had the following designations: "FT-3", "FT-28" - the commander's plane, "FT-36", "FT-81", "FT-117". The number of only one plane agreed, however, without the letter designation. It is interesting that the side numbers of the found aircraft were not listed among the missing. But then what kind of planes are located practically near the very base of Fort Lauderdale? In 1996, the military officially announced that these were mock-ups specially placed under water for practicing bombing from the air. This raises questions. The fact is that layouts usually lack propellers, motors, other equipment and instruments. In addition, the ocean floor at a depth of 250 meters is not visible from the air, so how was the exercise carried out?It is interesting that the side numbers of the found aircraft were not listed among the missing. But then what kind of planes are located practically near the very base of Fort Lauderdale? In 1996, the military officially announced that these were mock-ups specially placed under water for practicing bombing from the air. This raises questions. The fact is that layouts usually lack propellers, motors, other equipment and instruments. In addition, the ocean floor at a depth of 250 meters is not visible from the air, so how was the exercise carried out?It is interesting that the side numbers of the found aircraft were not listed among the missing. But then what kind of planes are located practically near the very base of Fort Lauderdale? In 1996, the military officially announced that these were mock-ups specially placed under water for practicing bombing from the air. This raises questions. The fact is that layouts usually lack propellers, motors, other equipment and instruments. In addition, the ocean floor at a depth of 250 meters is not visible from the air, so how was the exercise carried out?that breadboards usually lack propellers, motors, other equipment and instruments. In addition, the ocean floor at a depth of 250 meters is not visible from the air, so how was the exercise carried out?that breadboards usually lack propellers, motors, other equipment and instruments. In addition, the ocean floor at a depth of 250 meters is not visible from the air, so how was the exercise carried out?
PROS AND CONS
The Avengers case is perhaps the only one that cannot be unambiguously explained by “natural” reasons. What hypotheses are put forward by the adherents of the "Bermuda Triangle"? There is a theory that at the bottom of the "Bermuda Triangle" is a powerful alien transmitter, from time to time sending signals into space. Since it does not work constantly, nothing happens for a long time, but as soon as it earns, its powerful radiation disables the instruments of ships and aircraft and even destroys the aircraft and ships themselves. Another theory is that there is an alien base at the bottom of the Bermuda Triangle. From time to time they take ships and planes along with people on them for purposes known only to them. There are theories about magnetic anomalies that distort space and the passage of time, theories about underwater volcanoes and earthquakes,and many others.
On the other hand, the "Bermuda Triangle" area is considered to be rather difficult for navigation. This is due to the varied topography, the sometimes unpredictable course of the Gulf Stream and the capricious weather in the area.
In any event, on November 17, 2005, the US Congress honored the memory of 14 Flight 19 pilots who went missing in the Bermuda Triangle. The public was promised that the investigation would be carried through to the end …
A. Konon
