Some of the transcripts include a detailed explanation of . Unfortunately, it was later found that the hulks belonged to a different group of Navy planes whose serial numbers didnt match those of the fabled Lost Patrol. Many believe the wrecks of Flight 19 and its doomed rescue plane may still lurk somewhere in the Bermuda Triangle, but while the search continues to this day, no definitive signs of the six aircraft or their 27 crewmen have ever been found. Our Web Producer is Will Femia. ), FT-28: I know where I am now. This is the NBC newsroom in New York. As it is these series have been processed with container lists, so they are more accessible. The accident reports for the aircraft can be located in the series titled General Correspondence, 1943-45 in the Records of the Bureau of Aeronautics (Record Group 72). At present, passing through a big pool of oil. He wept the whole way. Flight 19, also referred to as ' The Lost Patrol ', is one of the best-known 'mysteries of the Bermuda Triangle .' It makes a cameo appearance at the beginning of Close Encounters of the Third Kind when the five planes are found resting in a Mexican desert. The official transcript from the cockpit voice recorder of the Air France Concorde Flight 4590 showed that the pilots were unaware anything was wrong until alerted by the control tower at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport. At about 2:10pm Eastern Standard Time. It was mid-afternoon on December 5, 1945, just five months after the end of World War II, when a routine training mission of five aircraft took off and headed east from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, for navigation training. Required fields are marked *. It was hoped that the students all had wristwatches, though this was never checked. There is no plaque, there is no marker designating it as the site of a deadly plane crash. The general weather conditions were considered average for training flights of this nature, except within showers. The five avenger bomber training planes of Flight 19 led by Commander Charles Taylor take off at 14:10. Even if some did escape their sinking planes, they might not have pulled their life rafts out of the hatch on the rear fuselage before the planes were swamped and sunk in the heavy seas. Hart: When American troops are actually in combat, virtually every member of Congress, every politician sort of makes a show of supporting the troops and even goes over to visit the trenches of the Western front and things like that. The presence of those three individuals from the FBI and the Justice Department on the flight that day, along with the Senator, that could have been happenstance, could have been just a coincidence, that they were all on that same flight. Including: who else was on-board along with Senator Lundeen when the plane crashed. And it's headed toward this field and it doesn't appear to be able to avoid it. Yeah. Jive Software Version: 9.13.0.0 , revision: 20220815205735.50e1b0c.master. I said I gotta get out of here, I cant take anymore of this. comments: FT-74 was already airborne and thereafter he flew south. Flannery: The more I looked at it, the more it seemed that at least the government agency didn't ask the right questions or find out very much. Lieutenant Robert F. Cox, was the first one to overhear Flight 19's radio communications. And to him, something about it doesnt add up. Senator Ernest Lundeen quickly became one of the loudest and most confident voices inveighing against the U.S. joining the fight. Maddow: What were those FBI and Justice Department personnel doing on board that flight? Flannery: There was reportedly a scuffle, whatever that means. Something close to confusion over the emerging reports about all these odd circumstances surrounding the crash. The weather was good but the sea state was bordering on rough. That one, we think we know. Maddow: With the world steaming toward World War as Hitler stormed Europe, picking off country after country, U.S. If it no longer meets these criteria, you can reassess it. They were headed for Howland Island, a dot two feet . 00 01 02 55 CDR Roger, Houston. One the PBM-5s made a routine call at 7:30 PM and then was never heard from again. We seem to be bereft of reason. At first, Flight 19s hop proceeded just as smoothly as the previous 18 that day. Located at the National Archives in College Park, there are two series of correspondence both the Commander, Gulf Sea Frontier and the Commander, Training Command, Atlantic Fleet. May 17, 201702:30. 1: Navy Air Station (NAS) Fort Lauderdale in Florida. Even if the Lost Patrol didnt fall victim to the supernatural, theres no denying that its disappearance was accompanied by many oddities and unanswered questions. Senator Ernest Lundeen reported killed today in the crash of a Pennsylvania Central Airlines plane, was the second member of the United States Senate to die in an airplane crash. Flannery: Well, we're standing at a, at the top of a ridge, if you will, and we're at a location, which if you were to take some of the witnesses, 750 feet above us, a plane is roaring over our head. As we consider the event, it is best to remember that the ill-fated members of Flight 19 were all quite green as pilots and flight crews. He was reading about the last radio transmissions from Flight 19, a storied group of Navy fighter planes that vanished on a 1945 training flight from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., purportedly. But he was determined. This really was a different kind of speech. It was on the return when things took a different turn. Write your congressmen and senators, telephone them, wire them, come to Washington to see them. The records of the 7th Naval District (Florida) and the naval air stations that were involved in the incident are in the custody of the, of the 7th Naval District. 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. Keep in mind, this was the third and final time Taylor had to ditch his plane due to being lost. After more than a decade biding his time, building up the support and the war chest he would need to try again, Lundeen made another run for office. But John Flannery has lived in the area for almost 20 years. 22 Oct: Air Canada radio issue while landing at SFO: sumdog747 : 2017-10-22 20:55:44: 21 Oct: Qantas flight to San Fransisco returned to Sydney due to autopilot fault: . And I ran across this one, walking around, and it was just from the middle of her stomach, her head and everything, that was it. FT-28: All planes close up tight well have to ditch unless landfall when the first plane drops below 10 gallons, we all go down together.. Apollo 11 reads you loud and clear. It didnt mention anything about the Bermuda Triangle, that is a big mistake!! On that Saturday morning of the Labor Day weekend, despite the fact that he is so visibly upset, that he is inconsolably crying in his office, the trip is still on. Scripts are listed by the first noun in the title. Now, of course, there were no survivors of the crash to tell anyone anything about what had happened on board the plane. At first light the next day, the Navy dispatched more than 300 boats and aircraft to look for Flight 19 and the missing Mariner. Although this was a controversial decision on the first Apollo flight, Apollo 7, when the crew wore suits but no helmets contrary . The Senator just cried. If you can improve it further, please do so. What do you make of that? When Lundeens secretary raced to the scene of the crash that afternoon to learn the fate of her boss, one report from the time says she met a policeman at the scene of the crash who told her something strange. The board also concluded that neither the pilot nor the co-pilot were actively controlling the plane when it crashed. And he managed to stand out even from his other peers who voted no like he did. comments: as FT-74 proceeded south and FT-28 proceeded north, they were flying away from each other; hence the weakening radio signal.). However, those who claim that something mysterious happened are simply making up stories out of thin air. But soon, the story of Ernest Lundeen colluding with a hostile foreign power, the involvement of a sitting member of Congress in what would soon be charged in court as a wide-ranging, seditious conspiracy to overthrow the U.S. government, that story would play out in ways that nobody would expect. Boston Sector: American 11, Boston Center, roger, climb, maintain level two eight zero. A reporter for the Winchester Evening Star in Virginia filed a story from the crash scene that day for the Associated Press. He's still planning to travel. The planes took off at 2:10 PM local time. Your email address will not be published. The train crew heard him yelling about 20 miles down the tracks. That denial from the Justice Department, as emphatic as it was, it didnt hold up. Lundeen: We are being urged on by insane hysteria. We tried to confirm those reports one way or the other. Flight 19 was the designation of a group of five General Motors TBM Avenger torpedo bombers that disappeared over the Bermuda Triangle on December 5, 1945, after losing contact during a United States Navy overwater navigation training flight from Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale, Florida. But there has been speculation that perhaps the flight was tampered with. Apollo 13 Transcripts . Over. Paying supporters also get unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app. Most immediately, in Washington, there was shock and grief from Senator Lundeens colleagues in the capital. Rachel Maddow: His name is Ernest Lundeen. I dont know where we are, one of the pilots said over the radio. By. At the time, the ship radioed: At 1950, observed a burst of flames, apparently an explosion, leaping flames 100 feet high and burning for ten minutes. A total of 14 airmen in five US Navy Grumman TBM Avenger torpedo bombers set out from Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for a combat and navigation training exercise. I am over land but its broken. These two series have not been processed or described, so the record dossiers would be the finding aids. FT-28: We are heading 030 degrees for 45 minutes, then we will fly north to make sure we are not over the Gulf of Mexico. (Ed. The fleet, known as Flight 19, took off from a Naval Air Station in Fort Lauderdale, Florida almost 77 years ago, on December 5, 1945. . There is some evidence that the Mariner may have exploded in mid-air because there were reports from vessels at sea near the Mariners patrol area saying they saw a fireball approximately around the time another ship lost RADAR contact with the plane. Formerly Security Classified Correspondence, 1940-1946. , which are arranged using the Navy Filing Manual, so the suggested filing designations are a good place to start. Hed made his scheduled pass over Hens and Chicken Shoals in the Bahamas less than an hour earlier, but he now believed his planes had somehow drifted hundreds of miles off course and ended up in the Florida Keys. Nancy Beck Young: He was on the run for not only his political life, but his actual life. No explanation. Then the radio transmissions ended about 6:30 PM that evening with LT Talyor saying that they might have to ditch at sea unless they found land and that when the first plane goes below 10 gallons of fuel, then all will ditch together. When fuel began to run low, Taylor was heard prepping his men for a potential crash landing in the ocean. My e-mail is: [email protected]. You have a 30- to 35-knot head or crosswind. ), Unidentified pilot: Dammit, if we could just fly west we would get home; head west, dammit. (Ed comments: This was the only voice of reason, one of the inexperienced pilots who recognized that they were still off the east coast of Florida in fact, based on even rudimentary navigation, that was the ONLY possibility. And he didn't just keep it for a day, he kept it the whole rest of his life. 081352 Continue reading "Full Audio Transcript" That piece of gold, that became like a talisman, I think for him. Hart: You can imagine how this strikes the country, that this man who had been seen already as an outspoken anti-war figure, allegations already circulating that he might be pro-German, if not pro-Nazi, has suddenly died dramatically. What do you think happened to Flight 19 based on this? The crew could only make right turns in the. These two series have not been processed or described, so the record dossiers would be the finding aids. He was buried in a military cemetery. Following is a transcript of the radio communications between air traffic controller at Logan International Airport [46R] in Boston and several jetliners identified by their call signs on the. The messages were overheard by the senior flight instructor at Ft. Lauderdale, Fox Tare Seventy-Four (FT-74), who contacted the flight from his aircraft. The really important thing to know about that speech is who wrote it. He and his secretary leave the Capitol building. At this point, FT-74s transmitter went off line when the battery ran low. At 2:10 p.m. on December 5, 1945, five TBM Avenger torpedo bombers took off from a Naval Air Station in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. This tool uses JavaScript and much of it will not work correctly without it enabled. Maddow: Historian Nancy Beck Young has done extensive research on this fight in Congress, and in the streets. Flannery: I think that the coincidence defies the probabilities. I am sure Im in the Keys but I dont know how far down and I dont know how to get to Fort Lauderdale. (Ed. February 5, 2009 10:19 am. Lundeen very clearly starts sweating about this, this sort of relationship. The records of the 7th Naval District (Florida) and the naval air stations that were involved in the incident are in the custody of the National Archives at Atlanta. Senator, gone in an instant. A handful of land-based radio stations were able to triangulate Flight 19's position as being somewhere north of the Bahamas and significantly off the coast of Florida. The planes held so many gallons of fuel flying at a certain airspeed would have established a baseline for calculating. 3. FT-28 (paraphrased): IFF gear was off, I am turning it on now. Hart: I do think that some of the members of Congress who were involved probably didnt know how deep they were in it. This is FT-74, plane or boat calling Powers please identify yourself so someone can help you. (Ed. He didn't sell it. Hart: There's a publication called PM, which is a left-wing tabloid, a muckraking left-wing paper in New York city, which happens to do incredible reporting. Pennsylvania Central Airlines had never had a crash in its entire history as an airline. There were also those reports of an altercation that took place among the passengers on-board the plane, what the secretary reportedly saw before takeoff, what the policeman reportedly told her. 1. John Flannery: Shoes neatly tied sat in the field with the feet still in them, separated from the bodies of the people on the plane. But the Senator did have reason to be concerned while he was on the plane that day. Position 28 degrees 59 minutes north, 80 degrees 25 minutes west. Ghost-written by a senior, paid agent of Hitler's government operating in America, a man to whom Senator Lundeen had grown very close. And Senator Lundeen is at work, even though it's Labor Day Weekend. Bradley Hart: Lundeen sort of creates a gadfly reputation for himself. The planescollectively known as Flight 19were scheduled to tackle a three-hour exercise known as Navigation Problem Number One. Their triangular flight plan called for them to head east from the Florida coast and conduct bombing runs at a place called Hens and Chickens Shoals. Is that a fight? flight 19 radio transcript. Radio Reporter: He thinks reporters and newspapers who have helped to indict the defendants are engaged in a dirty business, and predicted that the day will soon come when they will all regret it. That allows us to make our own judgment about what might have happened. In brief, for those unfamiliar with the story, Flight 19 was a training flight of five Grumman TBM Avenger Torpedo Bombers that took off from Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale, FL on the afternoon of December 5, 1945. You can see it in Ernest Lundeens archives at Stanford University. But what she finds there leaves no room for hope. John Flannery didn't only talk to the surviving witnesses to the plane crash, he's also made a real study of the aeronautics board report into the crash. Oct. 10, 2022, 3:15 AM PDT Transcript Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra Episode 1: Trip 19 It started with a plane crash. But it turns out it wasn't your average Ernest Lundeen stump speech. And that was in part, because it would not end up being just Senator Ernest Lundeen who was caught up in it. Hart: This is a speech that's sort of unlike most that Lundeen gives. Flannery: The report is just full of unsupported exploration of possibilities that are, that they have no basis in fact, they have no basis in science, and they just say these things. AA11: Turning right, American 11. For the next three hours, naval air stations listened to the growing confusion and frustration of the commanding pilot as he tried to figure out how to either get back or land somewhere safe. in the Records of the Bureau of Aeronautics (Record Group 72). Its members eventually attributed the loss to causes or reasons unknown.. The conspiracy theorists, however, cannot compete with the stark truth that exists based on the evidence at hand. Dateline Washington. She races to the scene of the crash. "in radio logs, Peter Leffe has. They are violently committed to this mission. But shortly after the patrol turned north for the second leg of its journey, something very strange happened. They did return him to the Congress, and then to the United States Senate. In other words, within 100 miles of a point that is essentially 120 miles due east of Daytona Beach. The PBM Mariners 13 man crew were all killed in the inflight explosion. 2: They were supposed go out into the sea towards East for 56 nautical miles to reach point 2 (Hen and Chickens shoals) and drop practice bombs until around 15:00. Maddow: So, the Senator seems to have been in a near-panic about being exposed in the days leading up to him stepping on board that flight a flight in which he, quite literally, was carrying a speech that was written for him by a Nazi agent who had just been exposed in the press. . The flight probably even came fairly near the coast, though it was still not able to see the beach. When she gets in, she finds him already there, already at his desk. FT-28 to his flight: Holding course 270 degrees; we didnt go far enough east we may as well just turn around and go east again. (Ed comments: The flight leader is actually advising that they turn back around and head east back toward the open ocean, having lost confidence in the westerly heading. Maddow: Lundeens speech that he planned to give on Labor Day 1940, it extolled the great contributions of German culture to American life. There have been relatively recent reports that the FBI's investigation of the crash technically remains an open case. The reports of a possible physical altercation among the passengers on the plane, those reports would never be fully verified. The microfilmed series is a collection of materials that was eventually used in the Navys Board of Investigation including weather observations, the history of the aircraft and engine logs, a rough crash log, radio station logs, preflight forms, communication logs, incident reports, air/sea rescue plans, maps of the search area. These files include correspondence from the Casualty Assistance Branch regarding the circumstances of the losses and any legal changes to their status. comments: this was backwards from the direction they should have been flying and put them heading further out into the open ocean how the flight leader could have thought he was over the Gulf of Mexico, west of Florida remains a mystery to this day. The dive into the ground was so dramatic that there were pieces of people pardon the description all over the area. Perhaps most intriguing, though, was something that was found in the passenger manifest from the flight. But he still wanted more.