In 2019, while researching lost aircraft and ships in the South Pacific, explorer, filmmaker, and National Museum of the Surface Navy advisory board member RUSS MATTHEWS stumbled across an article that would change his life.
Beachcombers in Florida had discovered an old luggage tag from Pan Am’s Clipper Endeavor, a passenger airliner that lost power and crashed off the coast of Puerto Rico in 1952, killing 52 of the 69 people aboard.
Though the general area where the aircraft had gone down was known, the wreck itself had never been found. Intrigued, Russ began the search.
What he and his team ultimately found is the subject of an upcoming episode of Discovery Channel’s Expedition Unknown. But the discovery is only part of the story.
We sat down with Russ to talk about curiosity, persistence, the friendships that make seemingly impossible expeditions possible, and the decisions that transformed a childhood fascination with history into an extraordinary life of exploration.
👉 Chapter List:
▶️ 00:00 Intro
▶️ 01:22 Where the Obsession Started
▶️ 02:33 The Search for PanAm Clipper Endeavor
▶️ 06:49 Josh Gates & Expedition Unknown
▶️ 09:29 Why the First Search Failed
▶️ 10:54 The Underwater Drone That Changed Everything
▶️ 12:15 “Oh My God… That’s a Plane”
▶️ 17:37 Why Russ Likes Autonomous Vehicles
▶️ 21:42 Voracious Reader
▶️ 23:48 Building the Dream Team
▶️ 29:15 The Scan That Changed Everything
▶️ 31:18 Funding the Expedition
▶️ 35:02 We Know More About the Moon Than Our Oceans
▶️ 36:02 What’s Next on the Search List
▶️ 38:29 Advice for Future Explorers
▶️ 43:18 Why Battleship IOWA Matters
* * * *
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