Josh Gates and Russ Matthews found the wreckage of Pan Am’s Clipper Endeavor in the Atlantic Ocean off Puerto Rico, 74 years after the Puerto Rico plane crash. The aircraft went down about 10 minutes after leaving San Juan on April 11, 1952, and 69 passenger and crew members were on board.
Fifty-two people died and 17 survived. Gates said there was no demonstration of where the exits were or where the flotation devices were, and added, “There was no demonstration of where the exits were, where the flotation devices are. And so in all of that chaos and all that panic, 52 people drowned in and around this plane.”
Josh Gates and Russ Matthews
The Air/Sea Heritage Foundation had been working since 2019 to track down the wreckage. Last month, Gates and Matthews were given two days to use autonomous underwater drones, and they spotted the plane on their first attempt. Tony Romeo said, “We were against the clock on this, and we knew we had kind of an idea, a pretty nice box, search box, that we wanted to search.”
The team identified the plane by sonar and high-definition images that showed the Pan Am logo, the landing gear and the engine. Russ Matthews said, “It was really out of reach in 1952, and it really took until now for the technology to catch up, to be able to reach down.”
Pan Am Flight 256
Pan Am Flight 256 was headed to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City on Good Friday when pilots lost both of the plane’s right-side engines shortly after takeoff. The plane crashed nine minutes later and remained on the ocean floor for 74 years.
Gates said, “Whether you’re going on vacation, going home for the holidays, or you’re a business traveler — every time you set foot on a plane, you owe a debt to what happened to Clipper Endeavor.” After the crash, pre-flight safety briefings became mandatory.
Clipper Endeavor and San Juan
The discovery closes a long-running aviation mystery tied to San Juan and the crash site off Puerto Rico. The episode of Expedition Unknown about the Clipper Endeavor is scheduled to air in the fall.
