Discovery Channel Locates 1952 Pan Am Flight 256 Wreck 2,000 Feet Down
Updated
Updated · The Daily Beast · Jul 21
Discovery Channel Locates 1952 Pan Am Flight 256 Wreck 2,000 Feet Down
3 articles · Updated · The Daily Beast · Jul 21
Summary
A cutting-edge underwater drone located the wreck of Pan Am Flight 256 last month about 2,000 feet below the sea off Puerto Rico, ending a 74-year search.
The Douglas DC-4, carrying 69 passengers and crew to New York for Good Friday in 1952, lost both right-side engines after takeoff and crashed nine minutes later.
Fifty-two people died, and researchers said the site had been effectively unreachable since 1952 until deep-sea technology finally made it accessible.
The disaster left a lasting aviation legacy: reports say mandatory pre-flight cabin safety briefings were introduced soon afterward.