Between Bermuda, San Juan in Puerto rico and Miami, is 500000 of square miles of sea where ‘hurricane alley’ is. In Spanish and Portuguese galleons lie millions of pounds of treasure sunken in this area. The currents at ‘hurricane alley’ are strongly affected by the Gulf stream, which flows northeasterly from the tip of Florida. Navigational errors, compounded by sudden freak storms, make this a dangerous area for shipping.
The name ‘Bermuda Triangle’ came from a magazine article written in 1964. It was based the disappearance of flight 19 which occurred on the 5 of December 1945. Five US Navy Avenger torpedo bombers were on an overwater navigation training flight from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. All nine airmen were lost, as well all 12 crew members of the Mariner flying boat which was assumed to have exploded in mid-air while looking for the flight. The cause for the loss of flight 19 was not determined by Navy investigators, but it was said that the pilots became disoriented and crashed in rough seas when the aircraft ran out of fuel.
The wreckage of an Avenger was found off the Florida coast in 1986, while searching for the wreckage of the Space Shuttle Challenger that plunged into the sea while exploding shortly after take-off. By 1990 it was raised from the sea bed but no positive identification was made. Records showed training accidents between 1942 and 1946 reckoned for the loss of 94 aviation personnel from the US Navy airbase at fort Lauderdale. In 1992, Another expedition located scattered pieces of waste on the ocean floor, but again, nothing could be identified.
No trace of the wreckage or dead of the Mariner flying boat was found either. The Bermuda triangle is known as the devil’s triangle, and the loss of flight 19 began the modern legend of the Bermuda Triangle.