All language subtitles for The.Bermuda.Triangle.Into.Cursed.Waters.S02E10.Falling.Stars.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-BurCyg_track3_[eng]

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- Dive, dive, dive.

narrator: Tonight on

"The Bermuda Triangle:
Into Cursed Waters"...

- We looked up,
and there it was

tumbling out of the sky.

narrator: Two passenger
airliners, nearly identical,

vanish in the triangle.

First comes the static,
and then silence.

♪ ♪

- That's just spooky
to see that.

- It's one of the great
aircraft mysteries

of the Bermuda Triangle.

narrator:
Now for the first time,

the team travels to Bermuda.

♪ ♪

narrator:
They'll battle the namesake

of the Triangle itself.

♪ ♪

- Some of the metal has now
become ingrained in the reef.

It's, like, half metal,
half reef.

narrator: In an attempt
to unlock the secrets

of an utterly destroyed wreck.

- I'm looking
at an unassembled wreck.

♪ ♪

- We could call this one a win.

♪ ♪

narrator:
There is a place that evokes

fear and fascination.

Bounded by Florida, Bermuda,
and Puerto Rico,

the Bermuda Triangle
has swallowed

countless ships,
planes, and people.

♪ ♪

Now an elite team
is on the hunt...

- Dive, dive, dive.

narrator:
And making big finds.

- We've discovered
"Challenger."

narrator: Their secret weapon,

a wreck map
decades in the making.

- These are dangerous dives.

- Ah!

- Any sane person
would not be doing this.

narrator: Their mission:

solve the mystery
of the Bermuda Triangle,

one wreck at a time.

- Dude, are you seeing this?

- Mother Nature is gonna take
these wrecks away.

The clock is ticking.

♪

[ominous music]

♪ ♪

- We are here
in the northernmost point

of the Bermuda Triangle.

We've been everywhere else.

Now we're basically
in the namesake

of the triangle itself.

narrator:
Today for the first time ever,

wreck divers Mike Barnette
and Jimmy Gadomski

are investigating targets
off the island of Bermuda.

- This is exciting to be
the northernmost point

of the Bermuda Triangle.

I mean, there's tons of
wrecks all around Bermuda.

narrator:
But Barnette and Jimmy

have come here in search
of one target in particular,

a wreck that locals believe

is the remains
of a '50s-era plane.

♪ ♪

Mike and Jimmy suspect
it could be the key

to one of the Bermuda
Triangle's deadliest

aircraft mysteries,
the "Star Ariel."

♪ ♪

January 17, 1949,
the "Star Ariel,"

an 85-foot British
passenger plane,

departs Bermuda
for Kingston, Jamaica.

She carries
20 passengers and crew.

- She was in good
mechanical condition.

She had an experienced pilot,
an experienced crew,

and the weather was fine.

narrator:
And then just as

the "Star Ariel" gets
underway,

something strange.

Radios in the area start
going offline.

♪ ♪

- The interesting part
is both airfields

and other aircraft in
the area of the Caribbean

were reporting some kind of
communications blackouts.

narrator: The cause
of the mysterious blackout

has never been explained.

All that is known is that an
hour later, when it clears,

the "Star Ariel" has vanished.

♪ ♪

A massive search is launched.

- It was quite big
for the time.

It included one battleship
and two aircraft carriers.

And they searched
for four days,

but turned up
absolutely nothing.

narrator:
The disappearance makes

international headlines.

And there's
an eerie coincidence...

the "Star Ariel" wasn't

the first airliner
to go missing.

♪ ♪

January 30, 1948,
virtually a year to the day

before "Star Ariel" vanishes,

another British
passenger liner called

the "Star Tiger" takes off
from the Azores islands

en route to Bermuda.

As she approaches Bermuda,
she makes

one final radio call,
and then silence.

- She made a radio call
requesting a navigation beacon

and was never heard from again.

♪ ♪

- Nothing has ever been
found of her since.

narrator: Two virtually
identical planes.

Both experience
strange radio issues

off the coast of Bermuda.

Both vanish without a trace.

Today, they remain
among the most infamous

Bermuda Triangle
disappearances ever recorded.

- The "Star Tiger"
and the "Star Ariel,"

they've become part
of the Bermuda lore

because there was nothing
found...no wreckage,

no more details to give us
any information

to help us put the mystery
of the disappearance to rest.

narrator: But there is
one potential clue.

Tracing the "Star Ariel's"
flight path lines up

exactly with the rumored
aircraft wreck.

- Our primary target
here in Bermuda

is a site known locally
as the aircraft wreck.

It's off the southwest side
of Bermuda

in about 30 feet of water.

♪ ♪

narrator:
Step one, find the wreck

and confirm it is an aircraft.

But it won't be easy.

- Typically,
when we dive other wrecks,

if you run across anything
with a huge bump on the sonar,

you know it's not
natural geology.

It just sticks out
like a sore thumb.

Here, there's so many
coral reefs

that these wrecks can hide.

narrator:
To speed up the search,

the team is bringing
an extra set of eyes...

safety diver Kiki Dee.

- On the dive,
I'll be using my GoPro.

I'll be helping Mike
with measuring certain pieces

of the wreckage,
and then just assisting

on anything the guys
may need underwater.

♪ ♪

- Dive, dive, dive.

♪ ♪

narrator: Since the wreck is
only 30 feet deep,

the team plans on
a long 60-minute dive.

♪ ♪

But there are
other challenges.

- We aren't limited
by decompression.

We aren't limited by really
anything, except for weather.

narrator: In the namesake
of the triangle,

that's always a problem.

Bermuda sits directly in the
path of powerful winds called

westerlies, first discovered
by European explorers

to speed them home.

These driving winds
kick up sudden storms

and surging currents.

- It's hard because
that surge is constantly

pushing us back and forth.

♪ ♪

So as I'm swimming
along on the bottom,

I'm seeing a lot
of coral everywhere.

And among all this coral,
I see some aluminum

sitting on the bottom.

[suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

- As I'm swimming
around this wreck site,

the first thing
that comes to mind is just

the pure chaos.

♪ ♪

I'm seeing just
mangled pieces of metal

twisted around the reef.

♪ ♪

- There is so much going on.

The wreck site itself
is, like,

all jumbled up with the coral.

So, yeah, it's pretty hard
to make sense

of, like, what
we're actually looking at.

♪ ♪

- I'm looking
at an unassembled wreck.

It's like looking
for a puzzle piece

to make sense of this site.

♪ ♪

narrator:
And then a stroke of luck.

♪ ♪

narrator: Aircraft propellers.

♪ ♪

narrator: This wreck is
definitely a plane

with multiple
large propellers,

just like the "Star Ariel."

[dramatic music]

narrator:
Off the island of Bermuda,

the team is investigating
a suspicious pattern

of missing airliners.

They're specifically searching
for the "Star Ariel,"

which vanished 70 years ago

during a mysterious
radio blackout.

♪ ♪

narrator: They've found
wreckage consistent with

a large aircraft that's been
ripped to pieces.

♪ ♪

narrator:
But further investigation

will have to wait.

Strong winds are driving
dangerous surf.

♪ ♪

- It's definitely
a little squirrely out here.

We have definitely some rocking
and rolling with the waves.

We're feeling
a lot of that surge

when we're trying to identify
certain things underwater.

♪ ♪

narrator: Back on shore,
Mike and Jimmy meet

with fellow team member,
former Air Force pilot

and combat veteran
Jason Harris.

- All right,
so this is the first dive.

- Did you guys have a chance
to really see much,

or would you guys...kind of just
some basic stuff so far?

- We're basically
skimming the reef,

and we come across
three props down there.

There's a lot of metal
everywhere, a lot

of aluminum, a lot of rivets.

- There's coral heads
growing on top of it.

So it's been down
several decades for sure.

We didn't find engines.

We didn't find anything that
really is definitive to help

with what kind of
aircraft it was,

just that it is an aircraft.

- Got it.

narrator: The wreck's
broken-down condition

means more diving
is needed before

a positive ID can be made.

- It's kind of like
just getting a taste

of what could be down there.

narrator:
The presence of propellers

and the apparent age
of the wreckage

are both a match
for "Star Ariel."

But what took her down?

The team has two
main theories.

The first relates
to the odd radio interference.

Could the blackout have
somehow crashed this plane?

♪ ♪

- They made a few radio calls,
and they were able

to log those last radio calls.

So I'm gonna look to see
if I can find somebody who's

knowledgeable of
the local aviation

and maybe piece
together that puzzle.

narrator:
But there are also questions

about the plane itself.

Almost a year to the day

before the "Star Ariel"
went missing in 1949,

another British airliner,
the "Star Tiger,"

mysteriously vanished.

♪ ♪

Coming on the heels
of the loss of Flight 19

and the Martin Mariner
in 1945,

the disappearance of these
two passenger planes

fueled a growing dread
of these cursed waters.

- When you see one aircraft
go missing, that's coincidence.

And then when you see
two aircraft, the same type

of aircraft,
connected to the same island,

now it's no longer
quite a coincidence.

Now there's something else
to it potentially.

And so that definitely makes
the spidey senses

on my back crawl up.

narrator: And there's
another connection

between the "Star Ariel"
and the "Star Tiger"

that the team must consider.

They were the same model
of aircraft.

- The "Star Ariel"
and the "Star Tiger"

were Avro Tudor IV aircraft.

They were about
80 feet in length,

and they had about
120-foot wingspan.

These were actually
descendants

of the famous
Lancaster bomber,

perhaps the most famous bomber

of the entire
Second World War.

It carried some
of the heaviest payloads,

saw some of the heaviest
fighting over Europe.

narrator:
But was this converted bomber

fit to carry passengers,

or were Avro Tudors
fatally flawed?

It's a theory
the team must chase down.

- While you guys are going
back down for that next dive,

I'm gonna do some
scouting here on the land,

and I'm gonna see what else
that we can try to correlate

this particular accident to.

[dramatic music]

narrator:
Back on the mainland,

team member
and military historian

David O'Keefe will look deeper

into possible flaws
in this model of plane.

- So we have two aircraft
identical in design

that disappear
without a trace.

Could it be anything to do with
the design of these aircraft?

The airframe was
absolutely fantastic

during the war as a Lancaster,

but there may have been
some issues

when it came
to the conversion.

♪ ♪

narrator: Meanwhile,
Jason will investigate

radio blackouts
and other dangers

associated with Bermuda
to see if any of them

could have played a role

in the disappearance
of these planes.

♪ ♪

That means talking
to local marine scientist

Philippe Rouja.

- Have you come across any
details that might shed

some light with regards
to radio interference

out here in the middle
of the Atlantic Ocean?

- Bermuda is a very
corrosive atmosphere.

Radio equipment that may have
worked flawlessly in England,

you get it in Bermuda,
and I can guarantee you

that in no time,
it's suffering greatly.

narrator: The westerly winds
blow in Atlantic air

laden with moisture
and salt.

That air eats metals

10 times faster
than elsewhere.

It could explain the failure
of the "Star Ariel's" radio.

But what it can't explain
is how corrosion

could black out
an entire region for an hour,

then return to normal.

Jason will need to look deeper
into the radio blackout.

♪ ♪

And this notorious island
presented other dangers

to the "Star Ariel."

♪ ♪

- Bermuda has this
folklore that goes back

to the Devil's Isles, right?

Now, this was
the Isle of Devils.

This is what the Spanish
first called it.

This was the last place
you wanted to get stuck.

narrator: As the northernmost
tip of the triangle,

Bermuda sits atop
an ancient volcano,

more than 600 miles
from the mainland.

[thunder rumbling]

Even worse, it's in the middle
of Hurricane Alley,

a band of warm water that
supercharges tropical storms.

♪ ♪

These storms can then slam

unwary ships
into yet another danger.

♪ ♪

- And surrounding us is
this big, fringing reef,

and it goes out in some places
about nine miles.

♪

Early ships,
they end up getting

caught up in that reef.

And that accounts
for this entire edge

of reef that is literally
covered in early ships.

narrator: As Bermuda's deadly
reputation to shipping traffic

grew, the Island
of Devils became

more broadly known as part
of the Devil's Triangle.

But with the disappearance
of the "Star Ariel"

and the "Star Tiger,"
the danger was no longer

confined to the seas,
but the sky as well.

And so the area was given
its modern name,

the Bermuda Triangle.

Did the cumulative effect
of corrosive salt air

and extreme weather take

a fatal toll
on the "Star Ariel"?

Philippe thinks it's possible,

considering the extreme
distances they had to travel.

- You know, that particular
story is also very

specific to a specific time
in the development of aviation.

It's post World War II.
- Oh, yeah.

- They're converting military
planes into passenger planes.

- Right.

- You know, those early planes
that came here

were traveling very long
distances from Europe,

and they're passenger planes.

So Bermuda was one of
the longest passenger flights

in the world...
this was in the early days

of aviation...for tourism.

Those early
transatlantic flights

were quite problematic.

narrator: It's clear
Bermuda's unique conditions

meant any plane flying here
was taking a chance.

Was the "Star Ariel's" design

simply not up
to the challenge?

[tense music]

narrator: The team is
in Bermuda investigating

a series of missing
passenger airliners.

They suspect
a submerged plane wreck

could be
the vanished airliner,

"Star Ariel," lost in 1949.

♪ ♪

Military historian
David O'Keefe

is investigating
whether these planes called

Avro Tudors had a fatal flaw.

But there's an issue...

every single Avro Tudor
was scrapped

after the disappearance
of "Star Ariel"

and "Star Tiger,"
the nearly identical plane

that vanished a year earlier.

So he's at the Bomber
Command Museum of Canada

in search of
the next best thing.

- This museum contains
one of the last remaining

Lancaster bombers
of the Second World War.

And of course,
this was the original design

that the Tudor was based on.

♪ ♪

narrator:
The Lancaster was one

of the most successful
Allied bombers

of World War II,
with more than 7,000 built.

They carried the largest
payloads of the war,

like the 22,000-pound
earthquake bombs.

♪

- This is the premier bomb
hauler in all of World War II.

narrator: Karl Kjarsgaard is
the museum curator

and was an airline pilot
for 30 years.

He explains how,
after the war,

the Lancaster's manufacturer,
the British Avro company,

hastily modified the bomber
into a civilian version,

the Avro Tudor.

- The key is the power on that
wing and those Merlin engines.

You've got your ultimate
combination of power and lift.

- So when we're moving
into the Avro Tudor,

I mean, I guess you can see why

they were looking at
this kind of platform

for that kind of conversion.

narrator: The Lancaster used
Rolls-Royce Merlin engines,

capable of nearly
2,000 horsepower.

The Avro company reused
the exact same engines

in the passenger version.

- OK, so that's
a big clue for the team

right there if they spot
the engine down below.

narrator: The engine may
also be a clue

to the "Star Ariel's" fate.

It turns out passengers
in insulated cabins

outweigh bombs,
making the longer,

fully furnished Tudor airliner

6,000 pounds heavier than
the original no-frills bomber.

- They were asking for 200
or 300 more horsepower

per engine
than wartime Merlins.

When you want 10%
or 20% more horsepower,

how does that affect
the longevity?

narrator:
Engines running at their max,

a hasty conversion
to a civilian model,

and corrosive Bermuda air...

was the "Star Ariel" pushed
beyond her limits?

- Here they are
pioneering these flights

from Europe to Bermuda
and southbound.

They've got to go over
the Bermuda Triangle.

They were extending themselves
to the absolute maximum.

narrator: The dangers facing
"Star Ariel"

are coming into focus,
but a big question remains...

what caused the hour-long
blackout when she vanished,

and is it part
of what brought her down?

[suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

Back on Bermuda,
the dive team is eager

to find the Rolls-Royce
engines that could connect

the aircraft wreck
to "Star Ariel."

- Let's do it.
- Let's do it.

narrator:
Strong westerly winds

are still pushing
surging currents

over the shallow wreck site,
but the team decides

to go for it
and risk another dive.

- Neutral, dive, dive, dive.

♪ ♪

- The shallow depth
makes our diving easy,

but the shallow depth also
makes this a challenging site

to us because it has scattered
the debris all over the place.

♪ ♪

- We have winter storms
that move

evidence and debris around.

So what you're seeing
is not how it actually

came to rest many times.

♪ ♪

narrator: Like the Lancaster
bomber that Dave inspected

and the Avro Tudor
that used the same design,

this wreck's wings were
built of light aluminum

and riveted together.

♪ ♪

But with pieces this small,
it's hard to make a match.

And then...

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

narrator:
The team is diving the wreck

of an unidentified aircraft

in search of an iconic
Bermuda Triangle mystery,

the disappearance
of the "Star Ariel,"

lost during a radio blackout
in 1949.

♪ ♪

narrator: They have found
what appear to be

1940s-era aircraft engines.

- If we could put
a positive ID on this one,

then that would be
a win for us.

♪ ♪

narrator:
But the condition of the wreck

is making that
identification difficult.

- This would be a lot easier
if there wasn't

so much encrustation
all over it.

♪ ♪

- So as we're going
around the site,

you're seeing
the scraps of metal.

Then you get into
the main heart of it.

You're seeing three engines.

narrator: They've found
three out of four engines

from a 1940s-era plane
just like the "Star Ariel."

♪ ♪

But there's no
smoking gun yet.

And topside,
the weather is again turning.

♪ ♪

- Conditions today
are definitely

a little interesting.

♪ ♪

narrator:
They head back to shore

and regroup
with the rest of the team.

David O'Keefe joins via
video chat from the mainland.

- We have multiple engines,
but we haven't been able

to find any plates or any
identifiable features yet.

narrator:
The clues are encouraging.

The fuselage is
about the right size

and the wing is
riveted aluminum

like the "Star Ariel."

David is interested
if the engines match.

- Can you tell which
engine that was,

where it was on the aircraft?

- And that's the problem.

This site is so scrambled.

It's just really chaotic
down there.

narrator:
There's just too much damage

to make a definitive ID.

They need another dive.

♪ ♪

Meanwhile,
Jason Harris is still

investigating the mysterious
radio blackout

that struck Bermuda
at the same time

that "Star Ariel" vanished.

Now he's got a new lead,

a potential
military connection.

He's located a retired pilot
named Peter Wilson.

Peter grew up around the
island's military airfields.

♪ ♪

- This airport here was
a military airport

built by
the United States Army.

You know, there were, like,
B-17s, B-24s.

Then we had the Cold War start,
you know.

- So this was definitely
a critical place,

and I imagine...
- It was.

- A lot of activity
during that time period.

- Absolutely.

narrator:
When the "Star Tiger"

and "Star Ariel" went missing
in the late 1940s,

the United States
and Soviet Union were

engaging in a new
kind of combat...

electronic warfare.

As the first wave
of a potential nuclear strike,

both countries experimented
with barrage jamming,

which scrambled radars
and radios

in a multi-frequency blitz,

leaving enemies blind
and disoriented.

In the event of an
actual nuclear attack,

the blackout would
cloak bombers

carrying devastating payloads.

This technology was tested in
remote corners of the world,

like the Mid-Atlantic.

Could this explain
the regional radio blackout?

And if "Star Ariel"
experienced

some kind of problem,

did the blackout mean no one
heard her call for help?

- Was there any
awareness of any type

of radio interference,
any kind of anomalies or things

like that that
you guys might have

been aware of during
that time period?

- No, I honestly say I don't
know of anything like that.

Of course,
the Air Force doesn't divulge

to the local public
what they've been doing.

narrator:
So while Peter can't say

tests were happening
at that time,

it can't be ruled out either.

And he does remember many
crashes around the island.

- And one of them
I know of and I...

because I also...

narrator: One incident
stands out in Peter's memory...

not an airliner,
but an odd Air Force jet.

- And was a hill
on the west side

of the island where we guys
all went to fly kites

and all like that.

And one of the guys said,
"Look, there's

something wrong
with that airplane."

We looked up and there it was

tumbling out of the sky.

♪ ♪

narrator: October 20, 1963,

a US Air Force plane,
the KB-50J,

takes off from Bermuda.

Something goes horribly wrong.

- Then it impacted the water
and crashed

off the western end
of the island.

- Oh, wow.

narrator:
The western end of the island

is exactly where
the team is investigating.

And we could hear that because
you have large pistons engines

and they put turbojets
just outside

of the outboard engines.

♪ ♪

narrator: The KB-50J was

a hybrid World War II
B-29 bomber

with two jet engines
grafted on

to make it
a high-speed tanker.

The result was
a Frankenstein plane

with a distinctive sound
that Peter remembers.

- You can hear them
roaring around.

narrator: Peter's intel puts
an intriguing new suspect

on the table.

Is it possible
the aircraft wreck

isn't the "Star Ariel"
but the KB-50J?

- Mr. Wilson said
he can still recall

the sound of that aircraft,

the explosion after
it impacted the water.

Is this the aircraft that
our team has been diving on?

♪ ♪

narrator: The dive team has
seen zero evidence

of jet engines on the bottom.

With so many clues pointing in
so many different directions,

the team decides to try
something

they have never done before.

They're going to take Jason
underwater.

- I think it's gonna be
invaluable.

If he sees something he's
familiar with, intimate with,

that's gonna help us
identify this wreck site.

- It actually gives me
a little bit of anxiety.

You know, my place is
up in the sky.

It's flying airplanes.

- The biggest thing
with a new diver

is just making sure their
comfort level is, like...

they're good to go
and that they feel safe

and taken care of, especially
with that surge action.

♪ ♪

[suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

narrator:
Off the island of Bermuda,

the team heads back
to the site

that locals call
the aircraft wreck.

They suspect the wreckage
could be the "Star Ariel,"

but now Jason Harris
has a new suspect...

a unique
American tanker plane

known as a KB-50J.

And for the first time ever,

he's gonna join the divers
on the bottom.

- I want to get down there
and have a closer look

because there's gonna be
some definitive differences,

and that'll help us
to identify which aircraft

this is that we're looking at.

narrator:
Drawing on his experience

as an Air Force pilot,

he will try
to confirm the presence

or lack of jet engines.

The Air Force tanker had them.

The "Star Ariel" did not.

- If we are able
to find a jet engine,

then we'll have about
a 98% positive identification.

♪ ♪

- It's snug.

♪ ♪

- Dive, dive, dive.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

narrator: Right away,
Jason makes an impact.

He spots the remains
of a radio

resting in 30 feet of water,

utterly destroyed.

Did it come
from the "Star Ariel"?

♪ ♪

- As an aviator,
being able to see

an aircraft wreck,
knowing that people perished,

that's very humbling,
and it's very sobering.

[solemn music]

There are so many thoughts

that are going
through my head.

What were those
last moments like?

I want to know what
the rest of the story

of that aircraft wreckage is.

♪

narrator: But after scanning
the entire area,

one thing is clear...

there are no jet engines here.

♪ ♪

The divers document
everything else they can,

measuring the prop,
and trying once again

to remove the encrustation
from the engines.

♪ ♪

As time runs out, Barnette
spots a shine in the sand.

♪ ♪

It appears to be glass,

and there's a distinct
curve to the structure.

♪ ♪

Is this the cockpit
of the "Star Ariel"?

♪ ♪

[indistinct chatter]

- We went down there,
brushed the sand off,

and it was glass...
intact glass panels.

- Dude, I totally missed that,

because I was
so focused on the radio,

and I was excited
about the radio.

- I was like, it can't be.

♪ ♪

narrator: Back on shore,

they dial in David O'Keefe
once more.

- It was a phenomenal dive.

narrator: They didn't find
the jet engines

added to the KB-50J
Air Force plane

that crashed in this area
in the '60s.

- But that's not to say
that they weren't there

at one point in time.

narrator: They also found
the remains of a radio,

but it was too degraded
to tell

which plane it came from.

But there is one more clue.

- Are you suspecting
the damage was due to

the impact or due
to the environment afterwards?

- Yeah, this has been
pummeled for decades.

That's kind of eroded
and hidden

some of the evidence from us.

[suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

narrator: The team
has finished their dives

on a target called
the aircraft wreck,

and Mike Barnette may have
just found

the smoking gun needed
to identify it.

- I think the most critical
piece we came across...

you can see the curvature
on one end of it.

♪

I actually realized,

this is part of the cockpit.

♪ ♪

narrator: Barnette
believes they've found

part of the aircraft's
windshield,

but the panel's
slight curvature means

it did not come from
an Avro Tudor passenger plane.

♪ ♪

- I think we'll be able
to overlay that

with a picture of a KB-50J,

and it's gonna be
a perfect match.

♪ ♪

narrator: The team also made
measurements

of the propeller blades,

9 feet each,

far larger than the blades
on the "Star Ariel,"

but a perfect match
for the KB-50J.

♪ ♪

It all points
to one conclusion.

- So where's your
level of confidence

on this as a positive ID?

- Well, based on
what we saw down there,

I'm pretty confident that
this is that KB-50J.

narrator:
60 years after Peter Wilson

watched it fall
out of the sky,

the team has found evidence
that this wreck

is the Air Force's
Frankenstein tanker plane,

the KB-50J.

- I'd say we could call this
one a win, I would think.

- Well, good job, boys.
Good job.

[soft music]

♪ ♪

narrator:
As they leave Bermuda behind,

there remains
only one final question...

how did it crash?

♪ ♪

Back on the mainland, Barnette
has a lead on an answer...

a survivor.

- Hey, Bill.
- Hi. Glad to meet you.

narrator:
Bill Tilton was the co-pilot

of the KB-50J,

call sign "Sheba 80."

♪ ♪

He has never seen
the crash site until now...

- That is interesting.

narrator: But he immediately
recognizes Sheba 80.

- That's just spooky
to see that, 1-1-7.

When I did the pre-flight,
I noticed that the jet

intakes were rusty.

We got a lot of salt spray.

We took off at full power.

And the left reel operator
happened to be looking right

at that jet engine, and he saw
that tail cone just separate

and immediately
burst into flames.

[dramatic music]

narrator: The explosion
of the jet engine

could explain why
the team found only three

of the plane's six engines.

- The aircraft commander,
Curley Moore,

on the left side,
said to me, "Bail out."

It was that quick.

He didn't hesitate.

So I threw off my
headset, tucked my head,

and rolled forward
into the opening.

And the parachute
opened very nicely,

and then everything's peaceful.

narrator: For Bill Tilton,

the memories are
still powerful.

- I got on Curley Moore's crew
and that made me really happy,

because I not only liked him,

but he was an instructor pilot.

narrator: The body
of Captain John "Curley" Moore

was recovered.

The other casualty that day,

Staff Sergeant
Charles Crigler,

has never been found.

[dramatic music]

The team came to Bermuda
to investigate

one of the triangle's
most iconic mysteries.

Now they have helped write
the final chapter

of a crashed
American military plane

and the two heroes
who went down with it.

- It's been
a successful journey,

and we've now told a story
of the Bermuda Triangle.

narrator: But the "Star Ariel"
and the "Star Tiger" before it

are still out there.

And the mysterious
radio interference

that plagued both planes
remains unexplained.

♪ ♪

And so the search continues.

♪ ♪