Status: | |
Date: | Wednesday 5 December 1945 |
Type: | Martin PBM-5 Mariner |
Operator: | United States Navy |
Registration: | 59225 |
MSN: | |
First flight: | |
Crew: | Fatalities: / Occupants: |
Passengers: | Fatalities: / Occupants: |
Total: | Fatalities: 14 / Occupants: 14 |
Aircraft damage: | Missing |
Aircraft fate: | Presumed damaged beyond repair |
Location: | 40 km (25 mls) SW off Cape Canaveral, FL, USA ( Atlantic Ocean)
|
Phase: | En route (ENR) |
Nature: | Military |
Departure airport: | Banana River NAS, FL (COF/KCOF), United States of America |
Destination airport: | ? |
Narrative:The PBM-5 Mariner was deployed for a search mission to locate five missing US Navy TBM Avenger planes, known as "Flight 19".
PBM-5 BuNo 59225 took off at 19:27 from Banana River Naval Air Station (now Patrick Air Force Base), called in a routine radio message at 19:30 and was never heard from again.
At 19:50 the tanker SS Gaines Mills reported seeing a mid-air explosion, then flames leaping 100 feet (30 m) high and burning on the sea for 10 minutes. . Captain Shonna Stanley, reported searching for survivors through a pool of oil, but found none. The escort carrier USS Solomons also reported losing radar contact with an aircraft in the same position and time.
Sources:
»
Wikipedia: Flight 19»
US Navy and US Marine Corps BuNos
Photos
This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.