Some 74 years after a Pan American Airways flight crashed into the water off the coast of Puerto Rico, an aviation search staff says it has discovered the wreckage on the ocean ground.
The Air/Sea Heritage Basis and others, together with Discovery Channel’s sequence Expedition Unknown, discovered the wreckage of the Pan Am “Clipper Endeavor” on the backside of the Atlantic Ocean off Puerto Rico’s northern coast final month, Discovery mentioned on Tuesday.
The Douglas DC-4 broke into two sections and got here to relaxation after crashing into the ocean shortly after taking off from Puerto Rico on April 11, 1952, with 64 passengers and 5 crew members on board.
Whereas everybody on board survived the preliminary influence, solely 12 passengers and 5 crew members had been rescued, with the remainder being misplaced with the airplane.
The catastrophe led to sweeping aviation reforms, with the introduction of pre-flight security briefings and emergency process demonstrations.
“We’re all surprised and elated by this discovery but additionally humbled to recollect what occurred in that place so way back,” mentioned Russ Matthews, president of the Air/Sea Heritage Basis.
The search, which concerned the Deep Sea Imaginative and prescient firm, used high-resolution sonar, with the wreckage being discovered virtually 2000 ft (609 metres) beneath the Atlantic.Â
The search additionally concerned using autonomous underwater drones and ended the thriller of the place the airplane got here to relaxation.
