ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 74683
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| Date: | Wednesday 5 December 1945 |
| Time: | 18:30 LT |
| Type: |  Grumman TBM-1C Avenger |
| Owner/operator: | US Navy |
| Registration: | 46094 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3 |
| Other fatalities: | 11 |
| Aircraft damage: | Aircraft missing |
| Location: | Missing 100 mi ENE Banana River NAS, FL -
 Atlantic Ocean
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Fort Lauderdale NAS, FL |
| Fort Lauderdale NAS, FL |
On December 5, 1945, five TBM Avenger torpedo bombers, designated US Navy Flight 19 undertook a routine exercise to evaluate the men's navigation and combat operations training in VTB-type aircraft. The flight leader was US Navy Lieutenant Charles Carroll Taylor who had about 2,500 flying hours, mostly in aircraft of this type, while his trainee pilots had 300 total, and 60 flight hours, in the Avenger.
The Avengers comprised four TBM-1Cs, BuNo 45714, 'FT3', BuNo 46094, 'FT36', BuNo 46325, 'FT81', BuNo 73209, 'FT117', and one TBM-3, BuNo 23307, 'FT28'.
Takeoff was scheduled for 13:45 local time, but the late arrival of Taylor delayed actual departure until 14:10. Weather at NAS Fort Lauderdale was described as "... favorable, sea state moderate to rough." On this assignment Taylor was supervising, rather than leading the students in the conduct of the mission unless he believed they had made an error.
The training exercise involved three different legs, but the actual flight should have flown four. After take off they flew on heading 091 (almost due east) for 56 miles (90 km) until reaching Hen and Chickens Shoals where low level bombing practice was planned. The flight was to continue on that heading for another 67 miles (108 km) before turning onto a course of 346 for 73 miles (117 km), in the process over-flying Grand Bahama Island. The next scheduled turn was to a heading of 241 degrees to fly 120 miles (193 km), at the of which the exercise was completed and the Avengers would then return to NAS Ft. Lauderdale.
Radio conversations between the pilots were undetectable by base and other aircraft in the area. It is known that the practice bombing operation was completed successfully. About 15:40 another flight instructor, Lieutenant Robert Faced Fox in FT-74, forming up with his group of students for the same mission received an unidentified transmission.
A male voice had asked Powers [one of the students] what his compass read, the recorded reply being "I don't know where we are. We must have got lost after that last turn." Fox then transmitted; "This is FT-74, plane or boat calling 'Powers' please identify yourself so someone can help you." The response after a few moments was a request from the others in the flight for suggestions. FT-74 tried again and a man identified as FT-28 (Taylor) came on. "FT-28, this is FT-74, what is your trouble?" "Both of my compasses are out", Taylor replied, "and I am trying to find Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I am over land but it's broken. I am sure I'm in the Keys but I don't know how far down and I don't know how to get to Fort Lauderdale."
FT-74 informed the NAS that aircraft were lost, then advised Taylor to put the sun on his port wing and fly north up the coast to Fort Lauderdale. At 16:45, FT-28 radioed: "We are heading 030 degrees for 45 minutes, then we will fly north to make sure we are not over the Gulf of Mexico."
At 16:56, Taylor was sent another request, with no acknowledgment. A few minutes later he was heard calling to his flight "Change course to 090 degrees (due east) for 10 minutes." At about the same time, two others in the flight were heard to say "Dammit, if we could just fly west we would get home; head west, dammit."
As the weather worsened, radio contact became intermittent, and it was believed that the five aircraft were actually by that time more than 200 miles (322 km) out to sea east of the Florida peninsula.
At 18:04 Taylor radioed to his flight "Holding 270, we didn't fly far enough east, we may as well just turn around and fly east again". By that time, the weather had deteriorated even more and the sun had since set. Around 18:20, Taylor's last message was received. He was heard saying "All planes close up tight ... we'll have to ditch unless landfall ... when the first plane drops below 10 gallons, we all go down together." At the same time, in the same area, SS Empire Viscount, a British-flagged tanker, radioed that she was in heavy seas and high winds northeast of the Bahamas, where Flight 19 was about to ditch.
Tay
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_19
- JF Baugher
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 06-Jun-2010 04:09 | harro | Added |
| 19-Nov-2011 16:45 | Alpine Flight | Updated [Time, Registration, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Narrative] |
| 02-Apr-2013 13:21 | Uli Elch | Updated [Other fatalities, Location, Source, Narrative] |
| 03-May-2022 06:45 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location, Damage] |
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