Seekers Won`t Give Up Flight 19 Proof In Sea Or Swamp
February 6, 1992
By KEN KAYE, Staff Writer
The quest to find Flight 19 of Devil`s Triangle fame continues.
On one front, Jon Myhre says he is closer to convincing the U.S. Navy that a plane found off Cape Canaveral belonged to the Lost Patrol.
``People have gone to the electric chair on less evidence than I have,`` said Myhre, who has spent nine years on the puzzle.
On another front, Keith Mackey wants to determine, once and for all, whether the wreckage of a TBM Avenger in the Everglades was part of the ill-fated squadron.
``I think we ought to find out where it came from,`` said Mackey, president of Heliflight Inc., based at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport.
Flight 19`s five torpedo bombers and 14 crewmen took off from the Fort Lauderdale Naval Station, now Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, on Dec. 5, 1945.
They were to fly on routine bombing and navigational exercises over the Bahamas, but never returned. Their disappearance has given rise to a mystery on the order of the Titanic.
Myhre thinks he has solved it. With help from experts and salvagers who called themselves Project 19, he arranged to raise a TBM Avenger from 400 feet of water off Cape Canaveral in August.
He had several pieces of evidence to indicate the plane was part of Flight 19. Mainly, the number L-209 was written in grease pencil on a wing, and one Avenger was numbered 73209.
Now Myhre, 49, a former air-traffic assistant from Lantana, is planning to have a pathologist try to lift fingerprints from the plane`s control stick. If he can match them with those of Capt. William Stivers, who was flying 73209, Myhre thinks his case will be sealed.
``I`m absolutely positive it`s the right plane,`` he said. ``My problem is getting everyone else to believe it.`` He hopes to meet with the Secretary of the Navy to make his case.
On the Everglades front, Mackey, 49, plans to fly a helicopter to far western Broward County to search for evidence that might reveal what happened to the wreckage of a TBM Avenger buried in mud.
The plane was discovered by a Broward Sheriff`s Office helicopter pilot in May 1989. At first, it was thought to be part of the Lost Patrol.
While authorities all but ruled that possibility out, they never obtained serial numbers. As a result, the plane`s mission and why it went down are still unknown.
``It made national news. But nobody was ever able to identify the thing,`` Mackey said.
Mackey, of Delray Beach, was told by the U.S. Department of the Navy that he might be able to determine the history of the plane if he finds its data plate, a metal panel giving the plane`s serial number and other information.
But Allan McElhiney, a local Navy historian, said Mackey may be chasing ghosts.
For starters, McElhiney said, the most important parts of the wreckage were recovered and studied in 1989. Those included the engine, a wing, bomb racks and the instrument panel.
The data plate was never found, however, and there is still the remote possibility the plane was part of Flight 19, he said.
``It would be hard to find,`` he said. ``The plane broke up pretty bad. But I`m sure there`s a lot of parts of it still out there.``
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By KEN KAYE, Staff Writer
The quest to find Flight 19 of Devil`s Triangle fame continues.
On one front, Jon Myhre says he is closer to convincing the U.S. Navy that a plane found off Cape Canaveral belonged to the Lost Patrol.
``People have gone to the electric chair on less evidence than I have,`` said Myhre, who has spent nine years on the puzzle.
On another front, Keith Mackey wants to determine, once and for all, whether the wreckage of a TBM Avenger in the Everglades was part of the ill-fated squadron.
``I think we ought to find out where it came from,`` said Mackey, president of Heliflight Inc., based at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport.
Flight 19`s five torpedo bombers and 14 crewmen took off from the Fort Lauderdale Naval Station, now Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, on Dec. 5, 1945.
They were to fly on routine bombing and navigational exercises over the Bahamas, but never returned. Their disappearance has given rise to a mystery on the order of the Titanic.
Myhre thinks he has solved it. With help from experts and salvagers who called themselves Project 19, he arranged to raise a TBM Avenger from 400 feet of water off Cape Canaveral in August.
He had several pieces of evidence to indicate the plane was part of Flight 19. Mainly, the number L-209 was written in grease pencil on a wing, and one Avenger was numbered 73209.
Now Myhre, 49, a former air-traffic assistant from Lantana, is planning to have a pathologist try to lift fingerprints from the plane`s control stick. If he can match them with those of Capt. William Stivers, who was flying 73209, Myhre thinks his case will be sealed.
``I`m absolutely positive it`s the right plane,`` he said. ``My problem is getting everyone else to believe it.`` He hopes to meet with the Secretary of the Navy to make his case.
On the Everglades front, Mackey, 49, plans to fly a helicopter to far western Broward County to search for evidence that might reveal what happened to the wreckage of a TBM Avenger buried in mud.
The plane was discovered by a Broward Sheriff`s Office helicopter pilot in May 1989. At first, it was thought to be part of the Lost Patrol.
While authorities all but ruled that possibility out, they never obtained serial numbers. As a result, the plane`s mission and why it went down are still unknown.
``It made national news. But nobody was ever able to identify the thing,`` Mackey said.
Mackey, of Delray Beach, was told by the U.S. Department of the Navy that he might be able to determine the history of the plane if he finds its data plate, a metal panel giving the plane`s serial number and other information.
But Allan McElhiney, a local Navy historian, said Mackey may be chasing ghosts.
For starters, McElhiney said, the most important parts of the wreckage were recovered and studied in 1989. Those included the engine, a wing, bomb racks and the instrument panel.
The data plate was never found, however, and there is still the remote possibility the plane was part of Flight 19, he said.
``It would be hard to find,`` he said. ``The plane broke up pretty bad. But I`m sure there`s a lot of parts of it still out there.``
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