r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/HimelTy • Jul 21 '26

Video A crashed Pan Am passenger plane from 1952 has been identified today by Discovery Channel in the Atlantic Ocean.

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u/skepticalbob Jul 21 '26

They've recovered wreckage, but good luck finding where it crashed.

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u/gimmematcha Jul 21 '26

I thought they at least are pretty sure on the location? By studying currents of where pieces of wreckage have floated to and then working backwards

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u/IHop_Waitress Jul 21 '26

By studying currents of where pieces of wreckage have floated to and then working backwards

Kinda? I mean we found floating pieces in the months after the crash as they washed ashore in Reunion, and Madagascar (maybe? somewhere else east of Africa).

But all that can do is tell you the western indian ocean theory is correct. And sure there's modeling of ocean currents.... but that can only get you so far. You would need to fully understand how those pieces float in the ocean, and then have exact data on flows over months... and while we can estimate... it is just an estimate.

Which when you're talking about months of ocean current data and weather.... still leaves you an absolutely enormous area of interest.

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u/gimmematcha Jul 21 '26

From the Wikipedia:

a drift study of the recovered objects by the CSIRO, identifying the crash area "with unprecedented precision and certainty" at 35.6°S 92.8°E, northeast of the main 120,000 km2 (46,000 mi2) underwater search zone.

It seems they're pretty certain?

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u/ClarenceLe Jul 21 '26

​"We know more about the surface of the Moon and about Mars than we do about the deep sea floor, despite the fact that we have yet to extract a gram of food, a breath of oxygen or a drop of water from those bodies."

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u/YoMomsHubby Jul 22 '26

Because mars and the moon compared to earth are some basic bitches

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u/jakexil323 Jul 21 '26

120,000km2 is still a huge area. We are talking 10 times the size of New York Metropolitan Area https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_metropolitan_area

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u/gimmematcha Jul 21 '26

Not sure I follow? It reads to me the coordinates of the crash location were not in the search area, to the north east of it. 

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u/IHop_Waitress Jul 21 '26

northeast of the main 120,000 km2 (46,000 mi2) underwater search zone.

120km x 100km is a an enormous search zone

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u/Lou_C_Fer Jul 22 '26

That's the main search zone. All the info we have about where they think it is are the coordinates. Honestly, and this is a real suggestion, not an insult... you should look into classes for reading comprehension. If you made this mistake, you are probably missing so much info that could help your life.

I know that's a huge assumption, but god damn, man. Reading comprehension is so important and this was so straight forward that I cannot comprehend how multiple people have misunderstood what that sentence says.

1

u/IHop_Waitress Jul 22 '26

You wrote a whole novel about reading comprehension to the wrong person lmfao. Reddit knuckle draggers are the best. Never change

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u/Lou_C_Fer Jul 22 '26

Dude, I wrote two paragraphs trying to be helpful.

But hey, maybe you just aren't capable.

Good luck to you.

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u/IHop_Waitress Jul 22 '26

"Helpful" - as in I replied to what someone said and you went off crying about reading comprehension.

Take a shower and go outside. You need to log off the internet

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u/ermagerdcernderg Jul 22 '26

As an outsider, I would like to provide some constructive criticism, since you seem open minded to it.

You were pretty rude, not helpful, when you admittedly assumed he needed reading comprehension classes because of a small mistake. You would be surprised at how much you miss too if someone commented on it every day of your life. Multiple people made the same mistake. That doesn’t mean they need reading classes lol. We are all human.

A simple, “oh you misread that!” would’ve sufficed.

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u/Lou_C_Fer Jul 22 '26

I'm not perfect, for sure. But I also appreciate it when my mistakes are pointed out.

Honestly, though... making a mistake like the one here would make me question myself. Maybe that's why I replied the way I did. I don't know.

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u/Anselwithmac Jul 22 '26

There are certain data sets that pinpoint where the plane went down. Not only did it go down, but it flew figure 8s before running out of fuel. Mass murder, in my opinion

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u/IHop_Waitress Jul 22 '26

Mass murder, in my opinion

It's been known mass murder for a decade now....

You don't end up in the middle of the western indian ocean on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing by accident

1

u/kangareddit Jul 22 '26

Also the fragments of the plane (that likely hit the ocean at hundreds of kilometres per hour, disintegrating on impact) would float down kilometres to the ocean floor which is actually closer to rolling mountain ranges and hills and valleys, in complete darkness, under thousands of tonnes of water..

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u/skepticalbob Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26

Pretty sure it is in a vast area of the Indian ocean and not somewhere else. That's all they know.

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u/DreamySailor Jul 22 '26

They had theories, but no one has found the thing.

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u/MechAegis Jul 21 '26

I thought i heard that that could sorta of know where it is but it just too deep to go down and pin point where. Wasn't its black box still on but the depth at which it was distorted the signal?

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u/littlebugonreddit Jul 21 '26

If I remember correctly, they had a radius within like ~10-20 km, or i could be missing a zero there

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u/Snorblatz Jul 21 '26

The general area perhaps but it’s an ENORMOUS search area to cover

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u/Schmantikor Jul 22 '26

They still have ideas where to look but they're far from sure

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u/irotinmyskin Jul 21 '26

Just ask Courtney Love. She’ll tell you where it is