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Flight 19
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Bermuda Triangle Database       Flight 19        U.S.S. Cyclops

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As vast as it may seem, the Bermuda Triangle Database is only a fraction of Into The Bermuda Triangle, They Flew into Oblivion, A Passage to Oblivion and Distant Horizons.

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Missing Aircraft

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 Introduction

Maps

Missing Aircraft

Missing Ships

What is the
Bermuda Triangle?

MSQ
Flying Boxcar
B-25 N92877
Sting 27 1971

Cessna N8040L
Bob Corner
Saba Bank

   Two Year Crisis

   Introduction

1978
Fighting Tiger 524
Queen Air
Arrow III N47910
|Arrow N74801
Cherokee Six
Aero Comm.
Aztec N13986
Beech N4442
N407D 
Ted Smith N55BU

1979
Cessna 150 N60936
Cessna 172 N1GH
Piper N1435P
Musketeer
Aero Comm
Twin Bonanza

1980
Kallia III
s.s. Poet
N3808H
Baron 58 N9027Q

1982
Queen Air 65-B80
Navajo N777AA
Bonanza N5999

1983
Cessna 210
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1984
Cessna 402 N44NC

1985
Cessna 337D
Cherokee

1986
Navajo
Twin Otter

1987
Cessna 402C NZ652B

1990
Piper Flight Liner

1991
Cougar

1993
Cessna 152 N93261

1994
Aztec N6844Y
Cherokee

1996
Aero Comm.
 

1998
Archer N25626

1999
Aero Comm.
 

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Martin “Marlin”

   On November 9, 1956, a huge amphibian Martin Marlin patrol bomber took off from US Naval Station, Great Sound, on Bermuda. The pilot was Ltjg Chuck Patterson. The time was 6:27 p.m.

   His mission was routine: he was to patrol about 300 miles north of Bermuda to “conduct routine shipping surveillance,” an incredibly boring duty of checking ship movements in the major sea lanes north of the island.

   He had 9 crew, counting himself.

   Next thing heard from Patterson was at 9:30 p.m. when Ltjg Peters, flying another Marlin on patrol, contacted him. Patterson said manner-of-factly that he was flying at 2,000 feet, heading north. All was normal.

   Patterson and his crew then spotted a freighter bearing horizons northeast. Patterson was descending with the intent of making a pass to identify the vessel. All very routine.

P5M Martin “Marlin”

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Specs

Length: 100 feet 7 inches

Wingspan: 117 feet 2 inches

Capacity: 11 crew

Max. Speed 215

Cruising Speed: 150

Range: 2,050 miles

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    At 9:42 p.m. the crew of the freighter s.s. Captain Lyras looked up to the roar of an approaching aircraft. A huge plane roared low overhead. The crew noted the gray underbelly of the plane and the white star on the bottom of the wing. Following the plane with their gaze, they watched it fly straight into the sea on the horizon without taking any evasive action whatsoever. 

Plane first seen starboard side in flames about six miles. ^*Altered course and reduced distance to three miles guided by small light on raft or wreck. When about 3 miles off light extinguished and sight heavy rain squalls which reduced visibility. Till now no contact.

Did anyone actually see plane crash??

Captain and mate seen plane crash. Small light showing till 9:50. Light lost in heavy rain squalls. When three miles off strong explosion heard and felt even by engine watch and all other crew which was standing by at life boats. Explosion occurred at 10:15*. Plane [had] passed over vessel at very low altitude. Also seen star identification mark. No sign of wreck in spite of thirteen hours effort. Shall I proceed destination?

* 10:07 p.m.; the Lyras’ chronometer was fast by 8 minutes.

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   Well, all this had to be made clear. The Navy figured the Marlin must have exploded when it hit the ocean. (^* The wording in the above message is where the erroneous reports must have originated that the Marlin was in flames in mid air. It was made clear later that it hit the ocean, then exploded). When the wreckage sank to 25 feet, the triggering depth for the depth charges it carried, they then exploded. This accounts for the second explosion. This means that the Marlin stayed afloat in one form or another for about 25 minutes, the time in between the crash and second explosion.

   This seems probable. Survivors may have had time to get off, explaining that flare or light seen by the Lyras. Two days later, the Astro also reported a flare but could not locate it in heavier than ideal seas. No trace was ever found of the crew. If any survived, they eventually vanished under the sea.

   The Navy proposed three possible solutions. First, starting with the most simple: that the Marlin experienced engine trouble when passing over the Lyras (which reported no sound of engine trouble); second, the pilot left the instruments and became confused after the low level pass, and lost control; third and most subjective: that the pilot did not check between the pressure altimeter and the radio altimeter and flew into the ocean. There was a reported altimeter error of 300 feet for that area.

   The last may very well be the case. Patterson may have thought that he was 300 feet higher in altitude than he was (although passing over the ship should have given him a clue as to his altitude). On the other hand, he seems to have kept his plane in the same level of decent and not bothered to pull up after the pass, since 6 miles after his pass over he flew into the ocean at the same constant angle of descent.  This argues for lack of flight control, not misreading the altimeter. When a pass is made of a ship, it is usually done in a level flight pattern, not a descending one.

   Something happened in those short 12 minutes after he and Peters spoke and when Patterson said all was normal. The big Marlin just flew straight into the sea and into mystery.

   The Bermuda Triangle offers a fourth possibility: those of equipment malfunction and the electromagnetic drains some pilots have reported. If these are legitimate, they could have suddenly effected the big plane, making it impossible for Patterson to pull his plane out of its deadly descent or send any SOS they were going down.

   In fact, the Navy believed Patterson didn’t even know what was happening.        “ . . .if the pilot had any due warning of a malfunction it is believed he would have contacted Navy 126506 [Peters], which he had contacted on UHF approximately 12 minutes prior to the accident. It is also believed he would have jettisoned his ordnance.”

     Officially, though, all that can be said with certainty is offered in the brief final conclusion: “The primary cause of this fatal accident is undetermined.”

The first book in 25 years. The primer for a new generation.

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         500 Leagues of Sea

500 Leagues of Sea
Bermuda
Miami
The Bahamas
Andros & The Tongue
Exumas
Eleuthera & More!
San Juan
The Sargasso Sea
Sea of Expanding Shapes
Somewhere Between
Through the Electronic Fog
Fantastic Journey
The Eye

The “Lost Squadron”

Disappearance of Flight 19
The Real Flight of Flight 19
The PBM Mariner
Views of the Okefenokee

Flights of Fancy

Bad Navigation?
Flight DUI
A 6th Avenger?
Through the Hoaxing Glass

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Bermuda Triangle Database
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Swiftly to follow:

C-54
Star Tiger
Samkey
DC-3 NC16002
Star Ariel

The Classics

Navy Super Constellation
Southern Districts
Martin Marlin
C-133 Cargomaster
Marine Sulphur Queen
2 KC-135 Stratotankers
C-119 Flying Boxcar

Distant Horizons

The USS Cyclops
Ellen Austin
Carroll A. Derring
Gloria Colita

Minor Classics

3 in a Week
Great Isaac’s
Carolyn Coscio
Saba Bank

1970s Triangle Fever

Ray Smithers and the Voice
The Philadelphia Experiment

The “Eyewitness”
The Scientist
The Promoters

Debunking Debunkery

 

Rebirth

My Research
Missing Aircraft
List
Missing Vessels
List

Out of the Past
Oddities & Enigmas
The Enigma of Specter
First Reactions

 

 

 

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