After 74 Years... Wreckage of Pan Am Plane Found on the Atlantic Ocean Floor

After 74 years of mystery, a research team working in collaboration with Discovery Channel has located the wreckage of the Douglas DC-4 aircraft named Clipper Endeavor, operated by Pan American Airways, which crashed in the Atlantic Ocean near Puerto Rico in 1952, according to CNN.

The plane had departed from Puerto Rico bound for New York before losing two engines and plunging into the sea minutes after takeoff, sinking within just three minutes.

The accident resulted in the deaths of 52 people, while 12 passengers and five crew members survived.

High-resolution images captured by the research team show that the Pan American logo and the aircraft’s name remain visible on the wreckage, which was found at a depth of approximately 610 meters, with its fuselage split into two sections.

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The discovery is the result of a seven-year search led by the Air/Sea Heritage Foundation, in partnership with Discovery Channel and Deep Sea Vision, which used autonomous underwater vehicles equipped with advanced sonar technology to map the ocean floor.

The team consulted Pan American Airways archives, U.S. Coast Guard records, Civil Aeronautics Board documents, and a map drawn by U.S. Air Force pilots who witnessed the crash in 1952, which helped narrow the search area.

The disaster contributed to changes in aviation regulations and the establishment of safety procedures that have since become integral to air travel.