Check Out This Dramatic Video of a TBM Avenger Ditching Yesterday at Cocoa Beach Airshow.

TBM Avenger Ditching
The Grumman TBM Avenger #91188 operated by the Valiant Air Command just before ditching off Cocoa Beach yesterday at the Cocoa Beach Air Show. (Image credit: screenshot from YT video)

Valiant Air Command Pilot Makes Perfect Emergency Water Landing With TBM Avenger In Front Of Beach.

Spectators captured dramatic video of the Valiant Air Command’s new Grumman TBM Avenger ditching (making an emergency water landing) on Saturday Apr. 17, 2021, at the Cocoa Beach Air Show in Florida. There were no injuries reported in the impressive display of airmanship by the TBM Avenger pilot.

The Grumman TBM/TBF Avenger is a single-engine, propeller driven, carrier-borne strike and torpedo bomber with a three-man crew. The aircraft was made famous in the Pacific during WWII in battles that include Midway and the sinking of the giant Japanese battleships Yamato and Mushashi. The aircraft could carry either 2,000 pounds of bombs or a single Mk. 13 torpedo in the anti-shipping strike role. The Avenger was flown by former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, who also survived an accident in his TBM Avenger during WWII when he bailed out of his aircraft before being rescued by a U.S. Navy submarine.

The Grumman TBM Avenger involved in yesterday’s ditching was flying with several other types of historic planes during the airshow including a twin-engine C-47 Dakota transport in a loose trail formation just prior to the ditching. A small amount of smoke briefly appeared from the aircraft in some videos just prior to the emergency water landing.

The pilot did an impressive job of ditching the aircraft in the shallow water directly in front of a beach area where spectators were watching the flight demonstrations. The aircraft can be seen flying slowly at wave-top level before finally stalling with wings level, then gently entering the water with what appears to be little damage.

The aircraft involved in the accident, number 91188, was originally built by the Eastern Aircraft Division of General Motors Corporation in 1945 and operated for the U.S. Navy as Bureau Number 91188. Today the aircraft flies under civil registration number N108Q and is owned by the Valiant Air Command.

TBM Avenger
A file photo of the restored Grumman TBM Avenger #91188 operated by the Valiant Air Command from their website. (Photo: via Valiant Air Command website)

The Grumman TBM Avenger involved in the incident was restored to flying status just over a year ago on January 11, 2020 following an extensive 18-year restoration to airworthiness. Prior to her restoration, she had last flown from 1956 until 1964 while operating as a water bomber in the forest fire suppression role for the U.S. Forestry Service in Davis, California. In 1964, the aircraft was transferred to the Georgia Forestry Commission in Macon, Georgia where she continued the firefighting mission until 1969 when she was transferred between a series of private owners until purchased by the Valiant Air Command in 2002. The Valiant Air Command was flying four aircraft at the Cocoa Beach Airshow including their flagship C-47 Dakota “Tico Bell”, a North American SNJ-4 trainer, an N2S Steerman biplane trainer and the TBM Avenger involved in the incident.

A famous photo of a Grumman TBF-1C Avenger that ditched next to the USS Bataan (CVL-29) on March 13, 1944 following a catapult failure. The TBM/TBF Avenger was a forgiving aircraft during ditching according to flight crews in WWII. (Photo: via U.S. Navy archives)

Ironically, the TBM Avenger that went down in the accident yesterday is painted in the same markings as one of the five TBM Avengers that disappeared in a famous incident in the “Bermuda Triangle” on December 5, 1945 that claimed the lives of 14 crewmen and an additional 13 that disappeared in a PBM-5 Mariner involved in a search operation for the five aircraft. The incident has remained as a significant piece of lore in the Bermuda Triangle superstition.

The location of yesterday’s TBM Avenger ditching incident off the Florida coast. (Photo: via FlightAware)
About Tom Demerly
Tom Demerly is a feature writer, journalist, photographer and editorialist who has written articles that are published around the world on TheAviationist.com, TACAIRNET.com, Outside magazine, Business Insider, We Are The Mighty, The Dearborn Press & Guide, National Interest, Russia’s government media outlet Sputnik, and many other publications. Demerly studied journalism at Henry Ford College in Dearborn, Michigan. Tom Demerly served in an intelligence gathering unit as a member of the U.S. Army and Michigan National Guard. His military experience includes being Honor Graduate from the U.S. Army Infantry School at Ft. Benning, Georgia (Cycle C-6-1) and as a Scout Observer in a reconnaissance unit, Company “F”, 425th INF (RANGER/AIRBORNE), Long Range Surveillance Unit (LRSU). Demerly is an experienced parachutist, holds advanced SCUBA certifications, has climbed the highest mountains on three continents and visited all seven continents and has flown several types of light aircraft.