Bermuda triangle

The **Bermuda Triangle**, sometimes called the '''Devil's Triangle'*, is an area in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean. The weather above the Bermuda triangle always remain misty and cloudy and dull during summer slight changes occur, but only sometimes.

Some people think this is because of paranormal or extraterrestrial beings. Many of the incidents were false. Some people believe that insurance companies charge higher premiums for shipping in this area, but that is not true.

### Aircraft 
#### "Star Tiger" missing, 1948 
On 30 January 1948 BSAA G-AHNP "Star Tiger" was lost due to unknown causes while flying from Lisbon, Portugal to Bermuda. Among those missing was retired RAF Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham. At 3:17 Star Tiger had requested a new bearing to Bermuda. Despite missing two  route flight checks from "Star Tiger" at 3:45 and 4:15, Bermuda did not issue a missing alert until nearly an hour and a half after the plane last transmission. On 30 January 1948 a press dispatch reported the planes loss at 440 miles northeast of Bermuda. On 1 February 1948 a B-17 search plane reported sighting several boxes and an oil drum 325 miles northwest of Bermuda; it is unknown if this flotsam was connected to the missing plane or not.[Glasgow Herald 2 February 1948] (If this was debris from the missing plane, it was probably an indication that "Star Tiger" had flown on for another 100 miles before being lost at sea; the time is unknown but could have occurred within 30 minutes when the plane was overdue for its last route check. Although the cause of the loss is unknown the known facts that it was *flying into a gale storm with only about an 3 1/2 hours worth of fuel'' could have been a contributing factor (strong headwinds could caused the plane to use up more fuel than the crew realized).Another interesting fact is that while the plane was flying at 2,000 feet the crew position reports indicate have they thought were flying at the regular 20,000 feet; prehaps a minuite of inattention on the part of the crew or a sudden windshear gust going downward could have caused the plane to crash in the ocean.The Fantasy Fiction series The Twilight Zone has a 24 February 1961 episode "The Odyssey of Flight 33" which is a retelling of The Flying Dutchman legend in which this version is of an airliner trapped in a Time Vortex; among one of the passengers is an unnamed RAF general officer presumedly based on Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham.

#### DC3 missing, 1948 
On 28 December 1948 a DC-3 was lost on a nighttime flight due to unknown causes between San Juan Puerto Rico to Miami Florida. Although the cause and location of the disappearance is Unknown, there are several other factors:  The report noted that although the carrier, aircraft, and crew were certified, at the time of takeoff, the aircraft did not meet the requirements of the operating certificate.The company's maintenance records were incomplete. In one case, a subcontractor working on an engine in October 1948 completed the task but did not save any records proving it.As far as human error, the report cited several occurrences:
Captain Linquist told San Juan that his landing gear down indicator lamps did not work. This led to the discovery that his batteries were low on water and electrical charge. While he ordered the refilling of the batteries with water, he ordered the reinstallation of the batteries on board the aircraft without recharging them.
The aircraft left with the batteries charged only enough to satisfy two-way radio communication with the tower, with the understanding that an in-flight flight plan would be filed before they left the vicinity of San Juan. This was not done, and the plane continued on a course for Miami. It was noted in the report that the plane's radio transmitter did not function properly due to the low battery charge.
The aircraft left San Juan with a cargo/passenger weight 118&nbsp;lb (54&nbsp;kg) over the allowable limit.
A message was sent to the plane concerning a change in wind direction that could have been strong enough to push the plane off course. It was not known if the plane received the message.
The plane's electrical system was not functioning normally prior to departing San Juan.
The aircraft had fuel for 7 1/2 hours of flight; at the time the last transmission was intercepted, the flight had gone on for 6 hours and 10 minutes after takeoff, and thus "an error in location would be critical
Miami weather was clear, but the wind had moved from northwest to northeast. The accident investigation report said that Miami transmitted the wind change information, but neither Miami nor New Orleans "was able to contact the flight". It is therefore unknown whether NC16002 received the information. Without this knowledge the aircraft could have drifted 40–50&nbsp;mi (64–80&nbsp;km) off course, which widened the search area to include hills in Cuba, the Everglades and even Gulf of Mexico waters.
the plane last transmission was at 4:13 but was not heard in Miami but in New Orleans. On 4 January 1949, two bodies were found 80–90 kilometres (50–56&nbsp;mi) south of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. (El Tiempo January 5, 1949) It is unknown if this was connected to the missing plane. (IF they did come from the missing plane =plus the fact the last message from the missing DC-3 was heard not in Miami but New Orleans, this could indicate the missing plane actually went down somewhere in the Straits of Florida between Florida and Cuba). Presumedly this accident could have inspired The Fantasy Fiction series *The Twilight Zone* has a 22 September 1961 episode "The Arrival" which is also a retelling of The Flying Dutchman legend in which a DC-3 plane without crew or passengers lands at an airport; it is ultimately shown to be a hallucination of an insane FAA investigator who is obsessed with trying to solve the mystery of a missing DC-3 which vanished nearly 17 years over the Atlantic Ocean in a flight from Buffalo New York.

#### Star Ariel lost, 1949 
On 17 January 1949 a second BSAA G-AGRE "Star Ariel" was lost due to unknown causes From Bermuda to Kingston Jamaica. An hour into its flight the pilot contacted Bermuda with an estimated time of arrival as 2:10. He also said that he would change Radio frequency from Bermuda to Jamaica at 30° N AT 9:37. That was the last message from the plane. Radio communication was very poor the day the plane disappeared. By his own airline rules the pilot was required to make a routine flight check every 30 minuites-thus the plane could have crashed anytime within a half hour to a full hour after his last radio call. While the cause and location of the crash are unknown there was a long delay in sending out search planes; Jamaica had not raised an alarm when "Star Ariel" had neither sent in routine radio route checks or failed to arrive as scheduled; Bermuda made no attempt to confirm with Jamaica that Star Ariel had *succeded* in changing radio frequencies (they may have assumded that *because* the pilot had said he would change radio frequencies that he had *already* did so;)and also did not tried to find out whether anything had been heard of the aircraft until 2 hours 28 minutes after its last radio transmission and also did not attempt to establish contact with the aircraft until 17:10 or inquire as to whether it had made contact with Nassau or New York or any other radio station. A 2009 theory is that the poor design of the Tudor IVB's cabin heater could have contributed to the plane's loss. According to Don Mackintosh, a former BSAA Tudor IV pilot, and Captain Peter Duffey, a former BSAA pilot, the cabin heater, located underneath the floor of the cockpit, was also placed close to hydraulic pipes. This meant that hydraulic vapor could have leaked and come into contact with the hot heater, causing either a fire or an explosion. Eric Newton, an air accident investigator who reviewed the case of the BSAA Star Ariel, concluded such an occurrence could have become quickly catastrophic: "If the heater had caught fire down below the floorboards then it could have developed to a catastrophic state before the crew knew anything about it. There was no automatic fire extinguisher to put it out like there is nowadays. There was no alarm where the heater was stored... so no-one would know, possibly until it was too late." likewise the website traces the derelict story to a June 1906 newspaper story-which claims the derelict ship incident took place in 1891- nearly 50 years later Lawrence David Kusche author of "The Bermuda Triangle Mystery Solved" found a report that a navy diver may have accidently found the missing vessel off Cape Charles Virginia in 1968 and also evidence of the storm of 9/10 March 1918.

## References