Long-lost Pan Am crash wreckage found decades after deadly disaster that reshaped airline safety

Wreckage was found from a Pan Am flight that ditched in the ocean off Puerto Rico in 1952, a crash that killed 52 people and helped lead to mandatory passenger safety briefings on commercial flights.

Searchers recently found the wreckage of the DC-4 by using an autonomous underwater vehicle equipped with high-resolution sonar to locate the fuselage and separated tail in nearly 2,000 feet of water.

The Clipper Endeavor aircraft made a hard landing in the ocean after losing engine power shortly after departure from San Juan, Puerto Rico, en route to New York City.

The 17 passengers and crew who lived told investigators everyone survived the landing, but many passengers struggled to locate life vests and the crew had a difficult time pulling out life rafts.

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