Why Lake Havasu is the Bermuda Triangle of the West

Sidetrack Adventures
Sidetrack Adventures
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Published 2023-02-08
A recent issue of Route Magazine had an article about Lake Havasu, calling it the Bermuda Triangle of the West. On two different occasions, planes have crashed into the lake, never to be seen again. That's despite over 700,000 people visiting the lake every year, and in one of the cases, multiple witnesses saw where the plane crashed, but its still missing.

Lake Havasu is a large reservoir on the Colorado River, located on the border of Arizona and California, that was formed after the Parker Dam was completed in 1938. Nowadays the lake is a very popular recreation area, but prior to the 1960s the area was pretty remote.

The first plane to go missing in the lake disappeared in 1943, during the height of World War II. The pilot managed to parachute to safety, but his Pursuit P-40 was never seen again.

Seventeen years later, in 1960, another plane crashed into the lake, this one carrying two brothers from California on a hunting trip. Multiple witnesses on the ground and air saw the crash and both bodies were recovered less than two hours after the crash. The plane however, has still not been found.

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All Comments (21)
  • @MotorPotor56
    I am the Archaeologist for the Lake Havasu BLM Office and took part in the sinking of the A-6 last year...that was a trip.
  • @R32R38
    Another aviation mystery from the region is the Martens/Walker disappearance from 1951. A small plane that had been reported missing in California turned up two weeks later in SW Arizona, having landed on the flat desert despite being in perfect working order with ample fuel, and the young couple onboard had vanished without a trace.
  • @Qusin111
    Lake Havasu City residents were surprised to see a large crane Wednesday on the island, lowering an old military aircraft into the lake near Site Six. Bureau of Land Management submerged the A6 Avenger plane near the Site Six fishing docks to be used as fishery habitat.
  • @frederickmiller3956
    Hi Steve, You present many places I have never heard of, and probably never would except for you. Thanks.
  • @espritmike
    I’ve owned a vacation home in Havasu for a few years and been coming out there for over 30 years. I love it but never heard this story. Crazy
  • @CactusAtlas
    Fascinating! Apart from the bridge and tourism, I really didn't know much about any crashes in the lake. Great topic! 👍 We haven't really gone out there too much.
  • @maryelmaguire3161
    The museum there is really nice and it’s free. My family and I use to live in Parker Dam CA. My dad was a power plant operator at the dam. We would put our boat in at Parker and ski to Havasu and dock our boat right by the London Bridge. We would watch them transform the water way and watched them bring in the bridge section by section. We were there for the grand opening of the bridge and the ceremony. My mom called it a 5 year vacation. My parents wish they would have bought property there 55 years ago.
  • @chrisanderson7929
    Steve, found your channel within the last two weeks. Love the content. Shared with friends in Solana Beach area for recommendations of little known things to do. Thanks!
  • @johnburwell6609
    The water in Havasu typically isn't very clear. Right off of spectator point there's old jeeps, across from site six in a bay there's a sunken boat made of old oil drums that sank years ago, lots of old docks in small bays that are sunk or partially sunk, old mining equipment, things left over from when the dam was built, etc, etc. There's lots of artificial fish habitats. Most of the scuba divers go to popular coves after holiday weekends to hunt for things people have dropped in the water. Even though the average lake level depth isn't that deep keep in mind that near Parker Dam it's over 400 feet deep. The California aqua duct gets it's water from near Parker Dam so lakes Mead and Powell would probably go dry before Havasu was allowed to get to low.
  • @j.b.a.124
    Awesome video as always, Steve. Visited Lake Havasu about 20 years ago & it was 117 degrees at night. Greetings from Florida.
  • @ME-qr2kq
    This takes me back to my younger years and the Hard Partying we did there. I could tell ya some wild stories about events witnessed there but this seems like a family orientated video LOL.
  • @lynnebigge5598
    Enjoying all of your Sidetracked Adventures! Carol was one of your best advertisers!
  • @brianbirc
    Lake Havasue has been a fun spot and great sights to see and atractions to play with on Holiday weekends. I Spent my Spring Break in High School there in a houseboat with a nice home stereo one of us brought. Not many of us but went through a keg a day and then out having fun at night.
  • @PinInTheAtlas
    Great video Steve and a very interesting story about the planes. We guess some things are meant to remain a mystery.
  • @carenann918
    I liked for the loud bird, but I stayed for the great story, thank you!
  • @mcoffroadinaz4075
    The only thing mysterious of Havasu, is where all the bar flies go in LHC on Sunday Morning.
  • @dianeowens415
    There is a small man made lake in the panhandle of Texas. A plain crashed in the lake, or so people thought. It was a mystery until the lake level dropped to 20 feet. The plain was found, over 40 years later. A fisherman saw the tail fin sticking out of the water. The two inside when it went down, where still with the plain.