The loss of Star Ariel
The airliner Star Ariel disappeared over the Atlantic on 17 January 1949 while flying from Bermuda to Kingston, Jamaica.
Star Ariel was an Avro Tudor passenger aircraft, registration G-AGRE, run by British South American Airways. Wikipedia records that it vanished without trace over the Atlantic Ocean on 17 January 1949, between Bermuda and Kingston, Jamaica. Plane & Pilot adds that no wreckage or bodies were ever found.
The Quester Files describe how the flight came about. Star Ariel stood empty of passengers at Bermuda after a westbound service to Jamaica. Another airline Tudor, registered G-AHNK, had an engine fail on approach to Bermuda and landed safely. Star Ariel was refuelled and ordered to carry that aircraft's 13 passengers on to Jamaica.
Plane & Pilot links the loss to the disappearance of another of the airline's aircraft a year earlier in the same region, Star Tiger. Wikipedia says both losses remain unsolved and that the speculation helped build the Bermuda Triangle legend.
"Star Ariel (registration G-AGRE) was an Avro Tudor passenger aircraft owned and operated by British South American Airways (BSAA) which disappeared without a trace over the Atlantic Ocean while on a flight between Bermuda and Kingston, Jamaica, on 17 January 1949. The loss of the aircraft, along with that of BSAA Avro Tudor Star Tiger in January 1948, remains unsolved, with the resulting speculation helping to develop the Bermuda Triangle legend."
- The Mystery (Star Ariel), Plane & Pilot Magazine
- Tudor IV Star Ariel (The Quester Files), The Quester Files
- Exploring the Bermuda Triangle, The Royal Gazette (2008)