The wreckage of a plane bound for New York that crashed in 1952, resulting in the loss of 52 lives, has been discovered 74 years after the tragic event.
An incident involving a Pan American Airways aircraft occurred on Good Friday as it departed from Puerto Rico with its destination set for what is now JFK International Airport in New York City.
The plane, named the Clipper Endeavour, was carrying 64 passengers and five crew members. Shortly after takeoff, both engines on the right side failed, causing the aircraft, comparable in size to a modern Boeing 737, to face difficulties.
The pilots managed a turbulent water landing in the Atlantic Ocean, initially resulting in all individuals onboard surviving. However, due to the lack of standard pre-flight safety briefings at that time, chaos ensued during the incident.
According to reports from the Daily Mail, 52 individuals drowned as the plane submerged in less than three minutes, leaving the wreckage untouched on the ocean floor for 74 years due to its unreachable depth.
After a seven-year investigation led by the Air/Sea Heritage Foundation in collaboration with Deep Sea Vision, an Eco Minerals Company, and the Discovery Channel’s Expedition Unknown series, the wreckage was finally located on June 2 of this year.
The host of the series, Josh Gates, expressed the emotional moment of discovering the bright aluminum fuselage shining from the ocean floor. The search was aided by the research vessel Fugro Brasilis, equipped with one of the most advanced autonomous underwater vehicles capable of scanning depths up to 20,000 feet and remaining submerged for extended periods.