Josh Gates leads a team that located the wreckage of the lost Pan Am Clipper Endeavor aircraft 74 years after its crash.
Josh Gates, host of the Discovery Channel series "Expedition Unknown," led an aviation search team that successfully located the wreckage of the Pan Am Clipper Endeavor. The Douglas DC-4 aircraft crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Puerto Rico on April 11, 1952, after losing its right-side engines shortly after takeoff. The disaster, which claimed 52 lives, became a pivotal moment in aviation history, leading to the implementation of mandatory pre-flight safety briefings. The wreckage was discovered approximately 2,000 feet below the surface using autonomous underwater drones provided by Deep Sea Vision. The team identified the plane by its iconic winged Pan American logo and legible aircraft name. The Air/Sea Heritage Foundation is currently collaborating with the government of Puerto Rico to establish protections for the site and advocate for a memorial. The discovery was made possible by modern technology that allowed researchers to reach depths that were inaccessible in 1952. The full story of the find will air in a future episode of "Expedition Unknown."