Jane Bingham - The Bermuda Triangle

The Bermuda Triangle has been called the Sea of Doom, the Graveyard of the Atlantic,and the Devils Triangle.

On the afternoon of December 5, 1945, 13 young men gathered at Fort Lauderdale, Florida.They were the crew of Flight 19, a squadron of five U.S. navy planes. They were preparingfor a routine training exercise led by their instructor, Lieutenant Charles Taylor.

As the pilots waited on the runway, they ran through the steps of their exercise.First, they would fly east for 56 miles (90 kilometers). Then, they would releasetheir training bombs into the sea. They would then continue east for another 67 miles(108 kilometers), before changing course and heading north for 73 miles (117 kilometers).Finally, they would turn southwest and fly the 120 miles (193 kilometers) back totheir base in Fort Lauderdale.

The whole operation would last just two hours. The weather was fine, and all fiveplanes had been thoroughly checked.

What could possibly go wrong?

At first, everything went according to plan. The crews took off at 2:10 p.m., completedtheir bombing practice, and continued flying east. But then a disturbing silencefilled the airwaves.

Up until this time, the planes had been in regular contact with base. But nothingwas heard from Flight 19 for 40 long minutes. Meanwhile, the weather was changingand heavy black clouds were gathering overhead.

At last, another pilot who was flying nearby picked up a signal. Lieutenant RobertCox tuned his radio and heard Lieutenant Taylor talking to one of his pilots. Coxfelt his blood run cold as he heard the chilling words, I dont know where we are.We must have got lost after that last turn. Something had gone horribly wrong.

Cox tried desperately to contact Taylor, but it was 20 minutes before he heard hisvoice on the radio again. This time, Taylor sounded panicked and confused. His compasshad failed, and he thought he might be flying over an area called the Florida Keys.Cox responded fast, telling Taylor to head north toward the Florida coast.

It was good advice, but it did not work. In less than five minutes, Taylor radioedback saying he couldnt see land. Then some other voices came over the radio. This time, there was no mistakingtheir sense of fear. One of the men said desperately, Were completely lost! Anothershouted out in alarm, It looks like we are entering white water!

Flight 19 seemed to be heading straight for disaster. What exactly was this patchof white water? And where could it be? There was nothing anyone could do to help.

By 5:00 p.m., it was horribly clear that Taylor was losing his grip on reality. Hewas no longer listening to radio instructions. Instead, he issued a series of confusingcommands. First, he ordered his students to fly due east. Forty minutes later, heturned the squadron (group of planes) around and headed west. But after just a fewminutes, he turned east again. Radio signals slowly died away, and Flight 19 wasnever seen again...

Shortly after 5 p.m., two seaplanes set off to search for Flight 19. Less than halfan hour later, the crew of a nearby oil tanker heard a deafening explosion. Gazingup at the sky, they watched in horror as a burning seaplane plummeted into the sea.All 13 airmen died instantly. The deadly Bermuda Triangle had claimed another setof victims.