The wreckage of the Pan American Airways plane that crash-landed in the Atlantic Ocean has finally been found. The Clipper Endeavor was bound for New York when it suffered multiple engine failure shortly after take-off on April 11, 1952, and plunged into the ocean. While everyone onboard survived the initial impact, the plane quickly sank, dragging passengers down with it. Just 17 of the 69 passengers and crew on board lived.
Discovery off Puerto Rico
Now, an expedition to find the sunken plane has uncovered the wreckage 2000ft below sea level off the coast of Puerto Rico. Led by the Air/Sea Heritage Foundation, in partnership with the Discovery Channel’s Expedition Unknown show and a number of other organisations, teams used an autonomous drone to locate the Douglas DC-4 aircraft last month.
Russ Matthews, president of the Air/Sea Heritage Foundation, said: ‘We are all stunned and elated by this discovery, yet also humbled to remember what happened in that place so long ago.’ The discovery came after researchers found records from a public hearing in Puerto Rico. These included a map drawn by air force pilots who had seen the crash and weather data, allowing teams to focus their search on a 10 square nautical mile area.
Confirmation of wreckage
The drone detected the plane’s fuselage and tail first, leading to the discovery of the rest of the aircraft – which had broken in two – on June 2. The wreckage was confirmed to be the Clipper Endeavor in a follow-up photographic survey, which captured snaps of the Pan Am logo and the aircraft’s name on the fuselage.
‘To have a front-row seat to an expedition like this as it’s unfolding is tremendous, and so I feel really lucky that we were able to be a part of it,’ Expedition Unknown host Josh Gates said.
Legacy of the crash
The crash led to an overhaul of safety procedures on commercial flights. Airlines are now required to outline the location of a plane’s emergency exits and life vests, as well as how to inflate them. Gates added: ‘Every time you step onboard an airplane today, you are safer because of what happened to Clipper Endeavor and her passengers three-quarters of a century ago.’
