How can a veteran pilot who served a combat tour in the Pacific during World War II just get lost? On December 5th, 1945, Lieutenant Charles Carrol Taylor took off from Fort Lauderdale, Florida at 14:10 hours (Mayell 1). It was a routine navigational training mission that would inevitably raise many questions after it never returned. One theory Lieutenant Taylor’s squadron was abducted by extraterrestrials. Another theory would be that Lieutenant Taylor made navigational errors that would lead his squadron to their inevitable deaths. Let’s explore the fact that Lieutenant Taylor made a navigational error or that his plane suffered problems causing him to crash.
Character Analysis
Charles Carroll Taylor was an expert, a qualified veteran flight instructor that was very unlikely to get lost even in difficult circumstances. Taylor had thousands of hours of flying time and had served a year as a scout pilot “...Charles Carroll Taylor, Lieutenant... was a naval aviator whose flight log indicates a total of 2509.3 hours flying time, and his officers qualification jacket indicates he served approximately one year with VS-62 as a scout pilot based at Key West, Florida, and had completed a recent combat tour” (Board of Investigation 1). Taylor had served as a scout pilot over Key West, however that is where he mistakenly believed he was after making his scheduled pass over Hens and Chickens Shoals. He allegedly had believed he drifted hundreds of miles in the wrong direction, and even if he had been where radio communications said he thought he was, his path still did not support the claim. It is not feasible that an experienced pilot with extensive knowledge of his surroundings led an entire squadron far out into the Atlantic Ocean. The veteran pilot somehow believed he was off course hundreds of miles in territory he was familiar with. A pilot that had this much experience and served a combat tour in the same plane he got lost in was unlikely to get lost in territory he was familiar with.
Taylor was a sensible pilot who listened to those under his command. The air station advised lieutenant Taylor to head west by the air station and by his students. Taylor did head west for a brief time, “Taylor was eventually persuaded to turn around and head west” (Andrews 1). However, still disoriented, they turned back east. The decision to turn back east likely stemmed from false information that Taylor had received because of an error with his plane. Taylor maintained radio contact as long as he could and was asking for the best feasible course of action. Students of his were also aware that they could be heading in the wrong direction even reportedly expressing this to the other aircraft, saying if they flew west, they would get home (Andrews 1). If they really were aware of being heading in the wrong direction, why wouldn’t the pilots just turn west and head back? Military discipline is strong, however, that many pilots would not knowingly commit suicide over a training exercise. They clearly trusted Lieutenant Taylor to lead the flight and knew they were headed in a reasonable direction to get home. The Lieutenant was an average person of his rank that nobody questioned the skill and experience of. Taylor clearly was a good enough leader to listen to his students and do everything to get them home. Others believed in him and if he made a mistake, it was not of his own doing, but a malfunction of his aircraft or of its instruments.
Charles Carroll Taylor was a brave pilot who would be very unlikely to panic in any environment; the Lieutenant had served a combat tour as a torpedo bomber in the Pacific Theater of World War II. A torpedo bomber was one of the most dangerous aircraft in the Pacific theater. Dusty Kleiss in his memoir says, “Can you believe it? Enterprise’s air group had lost 43 percent of its personnel during that morning mission” (Kleiss 213-214). Torpedo bombers had one of the most difficult and dangerous jobs out of other aircraft. It is improbable that Lieutenant Taylor’s fatal mistake was a navigation error in a training exercise in his home territory. Lieutenant Taylor served as a scout pilot for some time, meaning his ability to navigate had to be precise. Charles Carroll Taylor flew combat missions and could navigate foreign territory under the threat of getting shot down, but allegedly he got lost during a bombing run practice and led thirteen other crew members to their deaths. There is no possibility that Lieutenant Taylor could have led several crew members to their deaths from a mistake a new pilot may make. The plane that went to search for them suffered the same problem I believe happened to Taylor’s plane: the PBM Mariner sent to search for them exploded in midair. A combat veteran with thousands of hours of flying time was flying an unreliable and dangerous plane. How can people blame Taylor for the incident?
Conspiracy Theories
A combat hardened pilot does not simply just disappear. The incident had to be out of his control. In December 1945, Flight 19, led by Lieutenant Charles Carroll Taylor, disappeared without a trace, with no explanation of what happened (Andrews 1). Originally, Taylor was blamed for the incident but “Lt. Charles Taylor was exonerated in 1947, by the Board for Correction of Naval Records, in regard for ‘responsibility for loss of lives and naval aircraft’” (Bloom 1). The dominant theories to call attention to are the lieutenant made a navigational error, or his aircraft suffered problems causing him to crash, leaving his students stranded to complete the exercise on their own.
The most prominent explanation for what happened is that, unfortunately, Lieutenant Charles Carroll Taylor made an error in his navigation. It is believed that Lieutenant Charles Carroll Taylor got lost after performing his squadron’s practice bombing run on Hens and Chickens Shoals. After getting disoriented because of reasons still unclear to this day, Lieutenant Taylor turned his planes and started heading out toward the Atlantic Ocean where they did not return. On his path after completing the bombing run, Lieutenant Taylor passed over some islands. Evan Andrews, who has done extensive research on the disappearance says, “Many have since speculated that he may have confused some of the islands of the Bahamas for the Keys” (Andrews 1). This is an explanation that checks out because Lieutenant Taylor “was recently transferred from [Naval Air Station] NAS Miami to NAS Fort Lauderdale” (Bloom 1). Lieutenant Taylor was a very experienced pilot and a combat veteran, but that does not mean he is immune to making a simple mistake. Lieutenant Taylor making such a simple mistake also does not mean it was necessarily his fault. “For reasons that are still unclear, Taylor became convinced that his Avenger’s compass was malfunctioning” (Andrews 1). It is possible that Lieutenant Taylor was not to blame for the confusion or possibly an actual malfunction of his compass.
Nobody knows why Lieutenant Taylor became so confused about what was a simple navigation and training exercise. There are many potential explanations for Lieutenant Taylor becoming confused, such as maybe he suffered from a mental disorder, which, at the time, may have gone unnoticed because of the stigma of mental health at the time. Another possible explanation is the lieutenant could have not kept track of his course, which is unlikely because he was communicating with the air station (Andrews 1). However, regardless of how he got disoriented, this is the best official explanation we will probably ever get regarding the disappearance of the five aircraft and the PBM Mariner that was sent to search for them.
It is exceedingly difficult to explain why none of the planes were ever recovered or why no planes flew west and came home. After Taylor had been heading out into the Atlantic, it is possible something else happened to his squadron.
Avenger torpedo bombers have been known to be notoriously unreliable:
Of the six Avengers that took off from Midway, only one would return to the island, badly shot up, with two crewmembers wounded and one dead... when three squadrons of SBD Dauntless dive bombers arrived a few hours later. In the ensuing battle, three of the four Japanese carriers were sunk within the first five minutes, and the fourth was sunk later that day. (Grumman 1)
The original model, the TBF-1, that saw combat during the Battle of Midway sustained heavy losses and damage to all Avengers that attacked the carrier fleet while the SBD Dauntless dive bomber received significantly fewer losses (Grumman 1). The avenger aircraft simply was not a good combat aircraft and pilots were in a lot of danger flying it. One strong possibility of what happened to the flight is that Lieutenant Taylor had something malfunction in his aircraft. A strong possibility is that Lieutenant Taylor had something malfunction in his plane, and caused him to crash, leaving his students stranded. Inexperienced pilots may not have been able to realize that they were more than likely over the Atlantic, rather than the Gulf of Mexico, as Taylor had believed. These trainee pilots may have drifted out far enough to not be heard by radio, leaving them completely alone. Taylor believed that earlier his plane’s compass was malfunctioning, “For reasons that are still unclear, Taylor became convinced that his Avenger’s compass was malfunctioning” (Andrews 1). Therefore, it is possible that Lieutenant Taylor’s plane had problems that led the squadron to their demise. This would also explain why no planes were ever recovered as they may have been farther from NAS Fort Lauderdale than previously believed. Whether Lieutenant Taylor had crashed and left them alone or not, the strongest possibility is that a malfunction of his instruments is what caused the tragedy.
Conclusion
Flight 19 is just one of the many flights that would never be seen again after departing into the Bermuda Triangle. Lieutenant Charles Carroll Taylor was originally blamed, but Taylor was exonerated by the military for responsibility (Bloom 1). It may never be exactly known but the most likely explanation is Charles Carroll Taylor made a mistake due to factors influencing him or his aircraft suffered a fatal malfunction that would send them on a confused path into the Atlantic Ocean. Even with those explanations however, it does not change the fact that almost twenty-seven crewmen will never be seen again. Flight 19 will always be shrouded in mystery as Taylor did not want to take the flight out himself, Taylor “requested to be excused from leading the mission. ‘I just don’t want to take this one out,’ he supposedly said” (Andrews 1). Regardless of what exactly influenced Lieutenant Charles Carroll Taylor to make the decision to fly out to sea, Flight 19 should never have left NAS Fort Lauderdale.
Works Cited
Andrews, Evan. “The Mysterious Disappearance of Flight 19.” HISTORY, https://www.history.com/news/the-mysterious-disappearance-of-flight-19. Accessed 6 Oct. 2021.
Bloom, Matthew. Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale Museum, https://www.nasflmuseum.com/taylor.html. Accessed 6 Oct. 2021.
Grumman Tarpon I (TBF-1 Avenger) | Smithsonian Institution. https://www.si.edu/es/object/grumman-tarpon-i-tbf1avenger%3Anasm_A19610117000 Accessed 8 Nov. 2021.
HyperWar: Findings of the Board of Investigation Into the Loss of Flight 19 (Bermuda Triangle). http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/rep/Flight19/index.html. Accessed 6 Oct. 2021.
Kleiss, Jack. Never Call Me a Hero. HarperCollins, 2017. Accessed 6 Oct. 2021.
Mayell, Hillary. “Bermuda Triangle: Behind the Intrigue.” Wayback Machine, National Geographic, 15 Dec. 2003, web.archive.org/web/20191022121628/www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/12/bermuda-triangle-mystery-disappearance/.