Pan Am Clipper Endeavor Found (Is the reason we have emergency briefings!)

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M20K

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The Pan Am Clipper Endeavor has been located off the coast of Puerto Rico. A large a autonomous drone with high resolution radar and cameras was sent down to approx. 2,000ft in the area they believed the wreckage to be and indeed the drone came back with images!

The flight that went down in 1952 has major aviation significance with our every day commercial flights. Upon impact all or most or all of the passengers were reported to have survived. But there had not been any demonstration on evacuation procedures, how to open the aircraft doors or use the available flotation devices. So chaos ensued. 52 passengers died with only 12 passengers and the 5 crew members surviving.

As a result of this crash and what happened once they were in the ocean is why we all get the standardized emergency briefing before every flight.
 
Nobody listens nowadays still. Probably high loss of life is how it crashed.
 
bonefishpete said:
Nobody listens nowadays still.
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It is not that no one listened... There were no briefings given at that time. This accident is why we now have them.

As for not listening, I do see people that are on their first flight or are not a frequent flyer often listening. I'll admit that somewhere after 1,000,000 miles I stopped listening. Okay... maybe just a bit before that. :D
 
bonefishpete said:
Nobody listens nowadays still. Probably high loss of life is how it crashed.
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Except every article about the crash mentions what the OP wrote above. Survivors reporrted that almost everyone on board was alive after the ditching, but refused to leave the aircraft. When the remaining structure sank, all of those passengers drowned.
 
3393RP said:
but refused to leave the aircraft
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Well... yes, but no. If you read the full reports, it was not that they sat there sipping their wine and "refused" to leave the plane. It was more due to panic and chaos and they hesitated or just couldn't move from fear as the plane sank quickly.
 
M20K said:
you read the full reports, it was not that they sat there sipping their wine and "refused" to leave the plane. It was more due to panic and chaos and they hesitated or just couldn't move from fear as the plane sank quickly.
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Not that Wikipedia is the authoritative source, but it’s all I’ve read. Are you saying it’s incorrect?
Survivors later reported that many passengers had survived the initial ditching but had panicked because they feared the rough seas and the possibility of sharks and had refused to leave the sinking aircraft to board life rafts.
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M20K said:
Well... yes, but no. If you read the full reports, it was not that they sat there sipping their wine and "refused" to leave the plane. It was more due to panic and chaos and they hesitated or just couldn't move from fear as the plane sank quickly.
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I didn't infer otherwise.
 
Is it true some guy refused to clear the aisle until he secured his laptop from the overhead bin?
 
MauleSkinner said:
Not that Wikipedia is the authoritative source, but it’s all I’ve read. Are you saying it’s incorrect?
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Is the second quote about "...feared the rough seas and the possibility of sharks and had refused to leave..." part of Wiki? If so, then it sounds like basically what I had read about the panic (fear) and chaos.

Take-away is it is a historical point in aviation that brought us the passenger safety briefing.
 
M20K said:
Is the second quote about "...feared the rough seas and the possibility of sharks and had refused to leave..." part of Wiki? If so, then it sounds like basically what I had read about the panic (fear) and chaos.

Take-away is it is a historical point in aviation that brought us the passenger safety briefing.
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That brings up an interesting question. Suppose a wide-body jet ditched in the same waters today. Would some people still be afraid enough of sharks and rough seas to stay aboard the plane despite the emergency briefing?
 
asicer said:
That brings up an interesting question. Suppose a wide-body jet ditched in the same waters today. Would some people still be afraid enough of sharks and rough seas to stay aboard the plane despite the emergency briefing?
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WHAT?!?! After getting their pre-flight briefing???? No way!!!! :eek: :cool:

But the reality is, yes, I bet there would be. People do strange things when they are in shock and/or have gone into terror mode. Yes, there's "flight or flight" but there is also a "freeze" response. So I bet there are a few people that go into that freeze mode.
 
M20K said:
But the reality is, yes, I bet there would be. People do strange things when they are in shock and/or have gone into terror mode. Yes, there's "flight or flight" but there is also a "freeze" response. So I bet there are a few people that go into that freeze mode.
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So, why do we have a passenger safety briefing? :p
 
If you're too afraid of sharks or rough seas to evacuate a sinking aircraft, just stay out of the main aisle and Darwin will take care of the rest.
 
Anyone else feel there should be a shark activity report included in the over water pre fight safety briefing?
 
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