Several explorers from the Deep Sea Vision team believe they have found what could be Amelia Earhart’s plane, the aircraft that vanished during a Pacific Ocean flight in 1937. The presumed wreckage was picked up by sonar resting on the seafloor, sparking renewed interest in one of aviation history’s most enduring mysteries.
In a message shared on Instagram, Deep Sea Vision explained that the mission, which began its work in Kiribati last September, may be nearing a breakthrough in the Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan’s disappearance while attempting to circumnavigate the globe. The organization stated that a skilled group of marine archaeologists and robotics specialists had captured images that might answer a question that has lingered for decades. The post highlighted sonar photographs taken at a depth of roughly 4,500 meters near Howland Island, showing what appears to be an aircraft resting on the sea floor.
The team noted that a 15-member crew on board a research vessel conducted a broad seabed survey covering about 5,200 square miles (more than 13,400 square kilometers) with the Kongsberg Discovery Hugin 6000 unmanned underwater vehicle, one of the most advanced tools in its class.
Some observers have cautioned that the imagery does not conclusively resemble the Lockheed Model 10-E Electra flown by Earhart and Noonan during their attempted world flight. Tony Romeo, the CEO of Deep Sea Vision, told ABC Australia that sonar distortions can alter appearances, and the next phase would involve photographing the wreckage to verify whether it is indeed a Lockheed Electra.
In past expeditions, Earhart’s plane has not been located at several candidate sites across the Pacific, including areas near Nikumaroro Atoll. Earhart, born in Atchison, Kansas in 1897, was a pioneering American aviator whose fame rose from a string of achievements, including becoming the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic. On June 1, 1937, Earhart and Noonan took off from Miami aboard the Lockheed Electra for a second attempt at circumnavigation, reaching roughly two-thirds of their planned route and traversing regions across Latin America, Africa, India, and Southeast Asia before heading toward Lae in New Guinea. From there the pair departed for Howland Island in the central Pacific on July 2, but the aircraft disappeared about 1,300 kilometers from Hawaii. The case remains unresolved, with numerous theories about the disappearance and whether external forces played a role.