Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale

The boys were home.

The sky belonged to the United States Navy, and Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale was buzzing with young men learning the ropes.

Then at two ten in the afternoon, five TBM Avenger torpedo bombers lined up on the runway.

Now, you got to understand what an Avenger was.

It was a coordinated ditching plan for five TBM Avenger torpedo bombers carrying 14 men.

None of the aircraft returned to Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale.

No confirmed wreckage from Flight 19 has ever been recovered.

The loss later became one of the best-known stories connected with the Bermuda Triangle.

To understand how Flight 19 vanished, it is necessary to return to the beginning of that day.

The United States had emerged from World War II only months earlier.

Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale, on Florida's southeast coast, remained a major training base for carrier aviation.

The five aircraft assigned to Flight 19 were TBM Avengers, large single-engine bombers built for naval service.

The boys were home.

The sky belonged to the United States Navy, and Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale was buzzing with young men learning the ropes.

Then, at 2.10 in the afternoon, five TBM Avenger torpedo bombers lined up on the runway.

Now, you gotta understand what an Avenger was.