Mysterious Plane Wreck Found Underwater | The Bermuda Triangle: Into Cursed Waters (S2) | History

Shipwreck hunters Mike Barnett and Jimmy Godomsky often find their best mysteries from local hearsay. Today, they're sailing to the underwater object known locally as Chang's Wreck. It lies 57 nautical miles off the coast of Florida, just north of the Bermuda Triangle. The team is hoping that Chang's Wreck is the answer to a series of plane crashes that happened here over 60 years ago. In July 1960, a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, the USS Saratoga, entered these waters and experienced a run of bad luck. July 26, 1960, a strategic bomber on a practice run is approaching the Saratoga. A mile from the flight deck, it crashes into the waves, killing the pilot, William N. Collier, and his two crewmen. Three days later, another plane of the same type hits the flight deck briefly before careening over the side, killing three more men. The second plane was Commander Charles T. Frone. Dad was always a hero. In World War II, my dad flew over 11 different types of aircraft in 162 missions. Both the Saratoga's ill-fated jets were A3 Sky Warriors, new aircraft capable of carrying nuclear bombs. They crashed in water so deep they were written off as unsalvageable. Their precise location's not recorded, but in the general vicinity of Chang's Wreck. All right, on top of the spike right now. 700 feet. Neutral, dive, dive, dive. At 240 feet down, they only have 25 minutes to explore before they must resurface. Finally, the sharp edges of a plane emerge from the depths. What appears to be a wing comes into view. And then, the engine mount, with no trace of the engine. Not far from the wing, they see what appears to be the cockpit, split off from the rest of the wreck. There are no signs of human remains. With the divecock running out, the divers must return to the surface. Once ashore, Jimmy and Mike meet with pilot and combat veteran Jason Harris and military historian David O'Keefe to review their dive footage. Right here, we're seeing the wing. Oh, wow. The wreck sits upside down. You see the two pylons of the engines, but the engines have just ripped loose. And they're probably several hundred feet away in the distance. Based on its size, as well as where the engines were hung at, it becomes pretty clear that this is the A3 Sky Warrior. The most telling clue is the cockpit. The A3 Sky Warrior cockpit had a unique configuration, with three crewmen crammed in together, making them vulnerable. This is probably one of the two Sky Warriors lost off the cursed carrier Saratoga. But is it the jet flown by Captain Collier, or the one flown by Commander Frone? Meanwhile, Jason and David have made a breakthrough. They've found a witness named Phil Wilcoxson. He served on the accident-prone USS Saratoga. Phil saw Frone's plane crash and recently came into possession of film shot that day. The guy that's president of the Saratoga Association, enlightened me about a video of the last part of the accident. Video? Yeah. There's film footage of this? Yeah. You're kidding me. And, uh, when was this shot? This was shot on the day. It was shot as it was going on. OK, so look, let's play it right through first. And then we'll come back, and we'll dissect it. Evidently, his tail hook broke. Yeah, it looks like the tail hook did catch briefly, slowing him down enough or too much. You can see, look, he's trying to climb, right? But he has no speed whatsoever. He's trying to get some air on his wings. Gotcha. OK, wingtip in, nose in. Yeah. And then it cuts, and then we see. That right there, the white spot, that's the guy's helmet. That right there, there he is. Oh, there's somebody trying to get out. Yeah, that's a guy's flying helmet. Whoa. As a new day begins, Mike and Jimmy make final preparations. They're going to dive Chang's wreck again. When Mike and Jimmy dive, partially retracted wheels and parachute materials would be telltale signs the wreck is Frone's. Not seeing any of that could mean it's Collier's. Either way, they're hoping for an answer. Dive, dive! Almost immediately, they find the long span of the wing, with the tip broken off. Then another clue, port windows. They spot a tattered parachute, silently dangling in the current. There's no doubt the wreck is from the plane of Commander Frone and his crew. Mike and Jason make the trip to Jacksonville and reveal the final resting place of Navy Commander Charles T. Frone to his sons. Well, gentlemen, we really appreciate you guys having us to come back. The divers, they went down, and they took another look and got some footage that Barney would like to show you guys. Well, guys, yeah, we saw some really key diagnostic features that helped us identify the aircraft. Combined with the archival research, we're 100% certain this is your father's aircraft. This is the top of the cockpit. You can see the windows and the framing there. There's the landing gear. You can see it's almost pulled back in the fuselage. So he was trying to get the gear up, huh? Yeah. Your father was clearly thinking very fastly, trying to figure out, how do I rescue? How do I save the aircraft? How do I save everyone? And in that moment, likely, he's trying to figure out, how do I get off this aircraft carrier as quick as I can and as soon as I come off? Let me get the gear up, because that's going to give me a fighting chance to survive. To your speed. Now, we're looking at the fuselage, we're looking in, and this is all the parachute material draped around the wreckage. As we know from the event when they put the rescue diver in the water, they're trying to get everyone out. And the parachute had deployed, and that was part of the problem. I can't believe the parachute existed as long as it has there, and it really tells a pretty horrific story. You know, I'm sad my wife never got to meet him. I'm sad. Yeah. I never got to fly with him. Yeah, yeah. That's my big sad point. I think I could have learned some things from my dad. People talk about closure, guys. You know, some things, you never get closed. I mean, it's, um. You know, I appreciate that. You're absolutely spot on. You all are still cherishing the memory of your father. And so why would you want to close the memory of your father, such a great man? Thank you so much for sharing this with us. Really, I mean, it's always fulfilling and gratifying when you give meaning to your dives, and this had a lot of meaning for me.