Have the remnants ofAmelia Earhart’s planefinally been found? One crew searching for the long-lost wreckage believes they found it at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.Over the weekend, Deep Sea Visionrevealed its discoveryof “what appears to be Earhart’s Lockheed 10-E Electra," which they found after scanning “more than 5,200 square milesof ocean floor.”In September 2023, a 16-person crew with Deep Sea Vision launched their search for the wreckage from Tarawa, Kiribati, a port near Howland Island, according toThe Wall Street Journal.About 30 days later, the crew captured a sonar image resembling the shape of an airplane within 100 miles of the island,Business InsiderandTodayreported.GettyAlong with their announcement on Saturday, Deep Sea Vision shared an image of the plane-shaped object on its social media pages.Although it remains unseen if the image seen on sonar really is the wreckage of Earhart’s missing plane, Tony Romeo, the pilot and real estate investor who led the search, toldTodaythat he is confident the debris is connected to the crash.“There’s no other known crashes in the area, and certainly not of that era or that kind of design with the tale that you see in the image,” he said.Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan were last seen when they took off from Papua New Guinea on July 2, 1937. The pair was expected to stop refuel at Howland Island before continuing the trip.Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.Romeo, who also previously worked as a U.S. Air Force intelligence officer, has spent $11 million to fund the search so far, according toWSJandToday.To find the wreckage, crews used the Kongsberg Discovery HUGIN 6000, which Deep Sea Vision described as “the most advanced unmanned underwater drone.”“This is maybe the most exciting thing I’ll ever do in my life,” Romeo toldWSJ.“I feel like a 10-year-old going on a treasure hunt.”However, deep sea experts are eager for more evidence, which Deep Sea Vision hopes to obtain during its next expedition. “Until you physically take a look at this, there’s no way to say for sure what that is,” underwater archaeologistAndrew Pietruszkatold the newspaper in a statement.The crew plans to return to the site to learn more about the apparent wreckage in the near future.If the plane indeed belongs to Earhart, Romeo toldBusiness Insiderthe next questions are “How do we lift the plane?” and “How do we salvage it?”“I don’t think we’re there yet,” he noted. “But I do think Americans want to see this in the Smithsonian; that’s where it belongs. Not the bottom of the ocean.”
Have the remnants ofAmelia Earhart’s planefinally been found? One crew searching for the long-lost wreckage believes they found it at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
Over the weekend, Deep Sea Visionrevealed its discoveryof “what appears to be Earhart’s Lockheed 10-E Electra," which they found after scanning “more than 5,200 square milesof ocean floor.”
In September 2023, a 16-person crew with Deep Sea Vision launched their search for the wreckage from Tarawa, Kiribati, a port near Howland Island, according toThe Wall Street Journal.
About 30 days later, the crew captured a sonar image resembling the shape of an airplane within 100 miles of the island,Business InsiderandTodayreported.
Getty
Along with their announcement on Saturday, Deep Sea Vision shared an image of the plane-shaped object on its social media pages.
Although it remains unseen if the image seen on sonar really is the wreckage of Earhart’s missing plane, Tony Romeo, the pilot and real estate investor who led the search, toldTodaythat he is confident the debris is connected to the crash.
“There’s no other known crashes in the area, and certainly not of that era or that kind of design with the tale that you see in the image,” he said.
Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan were last seen when they took off from Papua New Guinea on July 2, 1937. The pair was expected to stop refuel at Howland Island before continuing the trip.
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Romeo, who also previously worked as a U.S. Air Force intelligence officer, has spent $11 million to fund the search so far, according toWSJandToday.
To find the wreckage, crews used the Kongsberg Discovery HUGIN 6000, which Deep Sea Vision described as “the most advanced unmanned underwater drone.”
“This is maybe the most exciting thing I’ll ever do in my life,” Romeo toldWSJ.“I feel like a 10-year-old going on a treasure hunt.”
However, deep sea experts are eager for more evidence, which Deep Sea Vision hopes to obtain during its next expedition. “Until you physically take a look at this, there’s no way to say for sure what that is,” underwater archaeologistAndrew Pietruszkatold the newspaper in a statement.
The crew plans to return to the site to learn more about the apparent wreckage in the near future.
If the plane indeed belongs to Earhart, Romeo toldBusiness Insiderthe next questions are “How do we lift the plane?” and “How do we salvage it?”
“I don’t think we’re there yet,” he noted. “But I do think Americans want to see this in the Smithsonian; that’s where it belongs. Not the bottom of the ocean.”
source: people.com
