59225

Safety history

• December 5, 1945Accident

  The crew left Banana River NAS at 1927LT on a SAR mission, looking for five TBM Avenger that did not return to their base. Three minutes after departure, the contact was already lost. Twenty minutes later, while cruising at low height, the aircraft went out of control and crashed in a huge explosion into the Sargasso Sea, about 30 miles off New Smyrna, Bahamas. On site, the rescuers did not find any survivors among the 13 occupants. Probable cause (official findings): It is believed that the cr

  Martin PBM Mariner · 13 fatalities

  It is believed that the crew may have lost his situational awareness or suffered a spatial disorientation and lost control of the aircraft while flying by night over the sea, without any ground visual references. Full accident record