A 1952 plane crash created the preflight safety briefing

Every time a flight attendant demonstrates how to fasten a seatbelt or locate an exit, they are performing a ritual born from a 1952 disaster. On a clear Good Friday, Pan American World Airways Flight 526A, known as the Clipper Endeavor, took off from San Juan, Puerto Rico, bound for New York. Within minutes, two of its four engines failed, forcing the pilot to ditch the DC-4 airliner into the rough swells of the Atlantic Ocean.