Pan Am Flight 526A
Pan American World Airways Douglas DC-4 · Engine failure, forced ditching
From Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport (SIG) to John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 52 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 69
- Survivors
- 17
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Airline
Douglas DC-4
- Aircraft type
- Douglas DC-4
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N88899 (former 42-72398)
- Operator
- Pan American World Airways
- Onboard fatalities
- 52
- Route
- From Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport (SIG)To John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
Cause areas
- Aircraft › Aircraft handling/service
- Aircraft › Aircraft power plant
- Personnel issues › Task performance
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
Pan Am Flight 526A, a Douglas DC-4, took off from San Juan–Isla Grande Airport, Puerto Rico, at 12:11 PM AST on April 11, 1952, on a flight to Idlewild International Airport, New York City, with 64 passengers and 5 crew members on board. Due to inadequate maintenance, engine number 3 failed after takeoff, followed shortly by a loss of power from engine number 4. Nine minutes after takeoff, the aircraft ditched in rough seas 18 km NW of San Juan Airport, broke apart, and sank after three minutes. Panicking passengers refused to leave the sinking wreck, resulting in 52 passenger deaths. The United States Coast Guard rescued 17 passengers and crew members.
The accident led to the implementation of pre-flight safety demonstrations for over-water flights. The wreckage was discovered in June 2026.
Accident
On a sunny day with a gentle breeze, Clipper Endeavor took off from San Juan Airport at 12:11 PM on April 11, 1952, on a flight to Idlewild Airport, New York. Sixty-four passengers and five crew members were on board, including Captain John C. Burn, a well-qualified and seasoned pilot, in command. Burn had been the first officer and one of the few survivors of a seaplane that crashed into the Tague River upon arriving in Lisbon during World War Two.
Just after takeoff, engine number 3 failed at 350 ft. The flight crew feathered its propeller (turned its blades parallel to the direction of flight to reduce drag) and turned back to San Juan Airport. The flight continued climbing to 550 ft, when engine number 4 also lost power. Captain Burn declared an in-flight emergency and informed the control tower that he planned to attempt a water landing approximately seven miles NNW off Isla Grande.
Clipper Endeavor ditched in the Atlantic Ocean north of San Juan at 12:20 PM. Rescuers arriving shortly after reported winds of 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) whipping up the sea. The rear fuselage broke off behind the bulkhead of the main cabin, and the wreckage sank in less than three minutes. 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.
Investigation and cause
Probable cause
The following causes were found by the investigation:
Inadequate maintenance: engine number 3 was not changed (as should have been done per company procedure) when metal shavings were found in the engine oil in maintenance before this flight, leading to its failure immediately subsequent to take-off.
The pilots' attempt to re-establish a climb without using all available power after the loss of power from the second engine. This led to a nose high pitch attitude and rapid decrease of airspeed which settled the aircraft at an altitude too low for an effectual recovery.
In subsequent legal proceedings, Captain Burn was exonerated, and the fault turned out to be inadequate maintenance.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Pan Am Flight 526A” (revision 1374328101, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: Pan Am Flight 526A
- Article
- Pan Am Flight 526A
- Revision
- 1374328101 · 2026-09-11 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q7129567
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "Pan Am Flight 526A" (page 25916113, revision 1374328101)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- Wikipedia article coordinates
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- flight number in the article title
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.