Pan Am wreck found 74yrs after crash

The wreckage of a Pan Am aircraft has been found on the Atlantic Ocean floor 74 years after it crashed off Puerto Rico, killing 52 people and prompting major aviation safety reforms, including the introduction of pre-flight passenger safety briefings.

The Air/Sea Heritage Foundation, in partnership with several organisations, including the Discovery Channel's 'Expedition Unknown', located the wreckage of the Pan Am 'Clipper Endeavor' on the seabed off Puerto Rico's northern coast last month, Discovery said in a statement on Tuesday.

The discovery, made using an autonomous underwater drone, ends decades of uncertainty over the final resting place of the Douglas DC-4 aircraft, which crashed into the ocean shortly after taking off from Puerto Rico on April 11, 1952, carrying 64 passengers and five crew members.

Although everyone on board survived the initial impact, only 17 people were rescued. The remaining 52 died after the aircraft sank rapidly. Investigators later attributed the high death toll partly to the absence of passenger safety briefings, leading to significant changes in aviation safety procedures.

"We are all stunned and elated by this discovery yet also humbled to remember what happened in that place so long ago," said Russ Matthews, president and co-founder of the Air/Sea Heritage Foundation.

NBC first reported the discovery on the 'Today' programme on Tuesday.

The search team, which also included Deep Sea Vision, used high-resolution sonar to locate the wreckage about 2,000 feet below the ocean surface on June 2.

A research vessel equipped with one of the world's most advanced sonar systems happened to pass through the team's narrowed search area and agreed to suspend its voyage for 48 hours to assist with the search.

"It went down for about 30 hours and scanned the sea floor in our target area, came back to the surface, and there it was," said Josh Gates, host of Discovery Channel's 'Expedition Unknown'.