Historic Pan Am crash wreckage discovered 74 years after sinking in US

The aircraft was located 2,000ft (610m) below sea level off Puerto Rico using a sonar-equipped drone during an expedition.

The wreckage of the Pan American Airways Clipper Endeavor, whose 1952 crash led to significant aviation safety reforms, has been found 74 years after it disappeared beneath the Atlantic Ocean, the BBC reported.

The aircraft was located 2,000ft (610m) below sea level off Puerto Rico using a sonar-equipped drone during an expedition led by the Air/Sea Heritage Foundation in partnership with Discovery Channel’s Expedition Unknown and several other organisations.

The Clipper Endeavor crashed on 11 April 1952 after suffering multiple engine failures shortly after take-off. The plane, carrying 64 passengers and five crew to New York, made an emergency water landing.

Although everyone survived the impact, the aircraft sank quickly, and many passengers were unable to reach life vests and rafts. Only 17 of the 69 people onboard survived.

The tragedy prompted sweeping changes to aviation safety, resulting in compulsory pre-flight safety briefings and improved flotation equipment on planes. Today, passengers are routinely shown the location of emergency exits and life vests before take-off.

“We are all stunned and elated by this discovery, yet also humbled to remember what happened in that place so long ago,” said Air/Sea Heritage Foundation president Russ Matthews, BBC reported.

Matthews’ interest in the crash began in 2019 after he read about a luggage tag from the flight that had washed ashore in Florida. He later reconstructed the aircraft’s final moments using Civil Aeronautics Board reports, while researchers examined historical records, weather data and a map drawn by air force pilots who witnessed the crash to narrow the search area.

A search in 2024 was abandoned because of poor weather, but the team returned before the 75th anniversary of the disaster. On 2 June, a drone located the wreckage, which had broken into two sections. A photographic survey later confirmed the aircraft’s identity, with the Pan Am logo and the name Clipper Endeavor still visible on the fuselage.

The discovery could also offer fresh hope to the families of passengers aboard other aircraft believed to have crashed at sea, including Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which disappeared 12 years ago with over 200 people onboard and has yet to be located.

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The wreckage of the Pan American Airways Clipper Endeavor, whose 1952 crash led to significant aviation safety reforms, has been found 74 years after it disappeared beneath the Atlantic Ocean, the BBC reported.

The aircraft was located 2,000ft (610m) below sea level off Puerto Rico using a sonar-equipped drone during an expedition led by the Air/Sea Heritage Foundation in partnership with Discovery Channel’s Expedition Unknown and several other organisations.

The Clipper Endeavor crashed on 11 April 1952 after suffering multiple engine failures shortly after take-off. The plane, carrying 64 passengers and five crew to New York, made an emergency water landing.

Although everyone survived the impact, the aircraft sank quickly, and many passengers were unable to reach life vests and rafts. Only 17 of the 69 people onboard survived.

The tragedy prompted sweeping changes to aviation safety, resulting in compulsory pre-flight safety briefings and improved flotation equipment on planes. Today, passengers are routinely shown the location of emergency exits and life vests before take-off.

“We are all stunned and elated by this discovery, yet also humbled to remember what happened in that place so long ago,” said Air/Sea Heritage Foundation president Russ Matthews, BBC reported.

Matthews’ interest in the crash began in 2019 after he read about a luggage tag from the flight that had washed ashore in Florida. He later reconstructed the aircraft’s final moments using Civil Aeronautics Board reports, while researchers examined historical records, weather data and a map drawn by air force pilots who witnessed the crash to narrow the search area.

A search in 2024 was abandoned because of poor weather, but the team returned before the 75th anniversary of the disaster. On 2 June, a drone located the wreckage, which had broken into two sections. A photographic survey later confirmed the aircraft’s identity, with the Pan Am logo and the name Clipper Endeavor still visible on the fuselage.

The discovery could also offer fresh hope to the families of passengers aboard other aircraft believed to have crashed at sea, including Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which disappeared 12 years ago with over 200 people onboard and has yet to be located.