Tony Romeo, a former US Air Force intelligence officer, and the chief executive of Deep Sea Vision (DSV), a South Carolina-based exploration company, claims to have located what may be the wreckage of Amelia Earhart’s plane. The discovery, made using sonar data from a deep-sea drone, could end an 87-year-old mystery. The images reveal a plane-like shape resting on the Pacific Ocean floor, at depths exceeding 5,000 meters, about 100 miles from Howland Island.
Earhart, an iconic figure in aviation history, vanished in 1937 with navigator Fred Noonan while attempting a historic flight around the world.If successful, Earhart would have been the first woman to achieve this feat. Their disappearance, somewhere over the Pacific, has fuelled endless speculation and search efforts for nearly nine decades.
Details of the discovery
DSV’s 16-member crew conducted an exhaustive search covering over 13,400 square kilometers. DSV said the exploration team spent 90 days searching 5,200 square miles (13,500 square kilometers) of the Pacific Ocean floor, “more than all previous searches combined.”
The sonar images, though blurry, depict contours that strikingly resemble Earhart’s Lockheed Model 10-E Electra, particularly its twin vertical stabilizers. The discovery supports the prevailing theory that Earhart and Noonan, running out of fuel, made a desperate yet controlled landing on the Pacific’s surface before the plane sank.
“She’s America’s most famous missing person, right? As long as she’s missing, there’s always going to be somebody out there searching,” Romeo said. “If we can help bring closure to this story and bring Amelia home, we’d be super excited.”
Romeo intends to confirm the plane’s identity and, if possible, raise and restore the aircraft—a process he acknowledges could span years.
“The first step is to confirm it,” he said. “The next step would be, if it’s possible, to raise it to the surface and restore it,” Romeo said, adding that the process could take years.
The discovery is based on the “Date Line theory” by former Nasa employee Liz Smith, suggesting a navigational error caused by failing to account for the International Date Line during celestial navigation.
Earhart’s legacy
Earhart’s daring attempt to circumnavigate the globe and her subsequent disappearance have made her a legend. DSV’s potential discovery not only rekindles interest in her story but also holds the promise of solving one of the most enduring mysteries in aviation history. The company is planning further search efforts while keeping the precise location under wraps for now.
(With inputs from agencies)
Earhart, an iconic figure in aviation history, vanished in 1937 with navigator Fred Noonan while attempting a historic flight around the world.If successful, Earhart would have been the first woman to achieve this feat. Their disappearance, somewhere over the Pacific, has fuelled endless speculation and search efforts for nearly nine decades.
Details of the discovery
DSV’s 16-member crew conducted an exhaustive search covering over 13,400 square kilometers. DSV said the exploration team spent 90 days searching 5,200 square miles (13,500 square kilometers) of the Pacific Ocean floor, “more than all previous searches combined.”
The sonar images, though blurry, depict contours that strikingly resemble Earhart’s Lockheed Model 10-E Electra, particularly its twin vertical stabilizers. The discovery supports the prevailing theory that Earhart and Noonan, running out of fuel, made a desperate yet controlled landing on the Pacific’s surface before the plane sank.
“She’s America’s most famous missing person, right? As long as she’s missing, there’s always going to be somebody out there searching,” Romeo said. “If we can help bring closure to this story and bring Amelia home, we’d be super excited.”
Romeo intends to confirm the plane’s identity and, if possible, raise and restore the aircraft—a process he acknowledges could span years.
“The first step is to confirm it,” he said. “The next step would be, if it’s possible, to raise it to the surface and restore it,” Romeo said, adding that the process could take years.
The discovery is based on the “Date Line theory” by former Nasa employee Liz Smith, suggesting a navigational error caused by failing to account for the International Date Line during celestial navigation.
Earhart’s legacy
Earhart’s daring attempt to circumnavigate the globe and her subsequent disappearance have made her a legend. DSV’s potential discovery not only rekindles interest in her story but also holds the promise of solving one of the most enduring mysteries in aviation history. The company is planning further search efforts while keeping the precise location under wraps for now.
(With inputs from agencies)