More than seven decades after a Pan American Airways passenger flight plunged into the Atlantic off Puerto Rico, an aviation search team says it has located the long-lost wreckage on the ocean floor.
The 1952 disaster became a turning point for airline safety, helping usher in compulsory emergency procedure demonstrations for commerical flights.
The aircraft, a Pan Am Douglas DC-4 named Clipper Endeavor, was found by the Air/Sea Heritage Foundation working with others, including Discovery Channel’s series “Expedition Unknown”.
Discovery confirmed the wreckage was discovered off Puerto Rico’s north coast last month.
Clipper Endeavor crashed into the sea shortly after departing the Caribbean island on 11 April 1952, breaking into two sections before settling on the seabed.
All 64 passengers and five crew members survived the initial impact, according to the search team.
But as the aircraft sank, only 17 people — 12 passengers and five crew — were ultimately rescued.
Pan Am plane Clipper Endeavor crashed into the Atlantic Ocean in 1952
The tragedy triggered sweeping changes in commercial aviation, including the adoption of pre-flight safety briefings and emergency procedure demonstrations that later became standard on airliners worldwide.
“We are all stunned and elated by this discovery yet also humbled to remember what happened in that place so long ago,” said Russ Matthews, president of the Air/Sea Heritage Foundation.
The hunt, conducted with the Deep Sea Vision company, relied on high-resolution sonar and autonomous underwater drones to scan the seafloor.
Researchers said the aircraft was found nearly 610m below the surface of the Atlantic.
