Chemistry aside, there is no evidence that 19 had this problem. There was plenty of evidence in the form of radio chatter that they were lost and running out of fuel, but no RT chatter of engine failure until they were out and ready to ditch.
The test ( I saw bits of that part, but not all of it), is laudable because it generates real data, not speculation. If it is reproducable, it is significant, maybe not for Avengers anymore but maybe for the model planes over the manure pile.
The problem with the Triangle thing is that about 250 WWII era Navy planes were lost in that area in a whole host of routine accidents and problems during and after the war. I don't think there is any evidence though, that the loss rate there was out of family for training losses anywhere else. Complicating the plane on the oceanfloor issue is that the Navy also disposed of surplus or worn out planes by dumping them off ships in that area, leading to discoveries of nearly intact Avengers as well as other types. I remember the whole flight 19 thing turning up again during the recovery operations for Challenger, when several Avengers turned up during the search for shuttle parts on the ocean floor. None of the Avengers looked at had the BuOrd numbers of the Flight 19 ships, and the Navy pointed out that plenty of other planes were in those waters. I think the only way to settle it once and for all would be to have Bob Ballard and his team examine each and every Avenger they can find in those waters until they find one or more of the 19 flight.
