Avenger splash!

The organisers of the Cocoa Beach Airshow in Florida, on 17 and 18 April, had promised their public an exciting show, which was there, but not in the way it was meant.

On 17 April Grumman TBM-3E Avenger BuNo 91188 (msn 4093) made a spectacular emergency landing on the water, a dozen metres off the coastline of Cocoa Beach. The splash was witnessed by the numerous crowds on the beach. An engine failure apparently caused the pilot to perform this emergency landing.

The Avenger concerned is registered as N108Q and owned by the Valiant Air Command Museum, Space Center Executive Airport, Titusville (FL)

After her US Navy career had ended BuNo 91188 became a fire bomber and was flown as such in California and later Georgia from 1956 to 1969. The Avenger then had several private owners until it was acquired by Valiant Air Command in 2002.

After an eighteen year restoration period N108Q took to the skies again on 11 January 2020. During its restoration the aircraft was painted in the colours of one of the Avengers that disappeared in the famous Bermuda Triangle. It represents the aircraft of Flight 19's Commander, Lt Charles Taylor.

All photos by Amber Ditmer