Explorer believes he found Amelia Earhart's lost plane in the Pacific

[Eleazar]

Is this Amelia Earhart’s long-lost plane? Explorer believes he’s solved the great mystery with sonar

“There’s no other known crashes in the area, and certainly not of that era in that kind of design with the tail that you see clearly in the image,” said Tony Romeo, CEO of Deep Sea Vision.

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A pilot and explorer who embarked on an $11 million expedition at sea believes he has solved one of the world’s greatest mysteries: the final resting place of Amelia Earhart’s plane that vanished in 1937.

Tony Romeo, a former Air Force intelligence officer and the CEO of Deep Sea Vision, sold commercial real estate to fund his deep-sea exploration of the Pacific Ocean last year, when he combed the ocean floor with sonar technology in the suspected area of Earhart's crash.

His team reviewed sonar data in December caught by an underwater drone from his research voyage and found a startling image: a blurry, plane-like shape Romeo believes is Earhart's twin engine Lockheed 10-E Electra.

The image was taken about 100 miles from Howland Island, halfway between Australia and Hawaii.

Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, were expected to land there in July 1937 for a refueling stop in her bid to be the first female pilot to circumnavigate the globe — but they never made it.

She was declared dead two years later, after the U.S. concluded she had crashed somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, and her remains were never found.

While the image is blurry, Romeo believes it is Earhart's aircraft, given its unique shape.

“Well, you’d be hard-pressed to convince me that’s anything but an aircraft, for one, and two, that it’s not Amelia’s aircraft,” he told NBC's "TODAY" show in an interview that aired Monday.

“There’s no other known crashes in the area, and certainly not of that era in that kind of design with the tail that you see clearly in the image,” he added.

While it's too soon to determine whether it is indeed the long-lost aircraft, it's an exciting prospect.

Romeo's team plans to return to the site this year or early next year with a camera and a remotely operated vehicle to snap better images of the site.

“The next step is confirmation, and there’s a lot we need to know about it. And it looks like there’s some damage. I mean, it's been sitting there for 87 years at this point,” he said.

And returning is no easy, or cheap, feat, as the voyage requires expensive high-tech gear. Romeo's voyage used an underwater Hugin drone manufactured by the Norwegian company Kongsberg, The Wall Street Journal reported.

In his last voyage, the expedition used an uncrewed submersible to scan 5,200 square miles of ocean floor. The image of the suspected plane was found resting 5,000 meters underwater, the Journal reported.

“I think myself that it is the great mystery of all time," Romeo said. "Certainly the most enduring aviation mystery of all time."


https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/e...fic-rcna136134

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by kepp

IDK, the wings don't look like it's a Lockheed 10-E Electra. They're more swept back...could be damage, I suppose.

And they don't look wide enough, even if you 'unsweep' them.

Honestly, it looks more like an F-86 sabre. The dimensions of a Saber are more 'boxlike' in that it's about as wide as it is long. An Electra is quite a bit wider than it is long.

Australia flew the Sabre. Obviously we did as well. We also had a carrier capable version of the Sabre (the Fury) that we probably had out in the Pacific; we had over 1,000 of those at various points, I'm sure one went down in the Pacific and if it's testing/training, we're not gonna make a big show of it.

If I'm guessing, that's some fighter that went down out there. I'll guess Sabre or one of its many variants.

[kepp]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

And they don't look wide enough, even if you 'unsweep' them.

Honestly, it looks more like an F-86 sabre. The dimensions of a Saber are more 'boxlike' in that it's about as wide as it is long. An Electra is quite a bit wider than it is long.

Australia flew the Sabre. Obviously we did as well. We also had a carrier capable version of the Sabre (the Fury) that we probably had out in the Pacific; we had over 1,000 of those at various points, I'm sure one went down in the Pacific and if it's testing/training, we're not gonna make a big show of it.

If I'm guessing, that's some fighter that went down out there. I'll guess Sabre or one of its many variants.

And I'm not convinced that image is of a twin tail aircraft. It's not exactly 4k. I definitely looks more like the plane you mentioned.

[ghak99]

Early next year??

Sell something else and get your ass back out there and entertain us with your findings!

[Buehler445]

Yeah, the swept wing thing is a killer for me. They're swept at the same angle and it wouldn't be the case if it was because of damage.

It would be exciting. Growing up in Kansas I was a big fan of hers as a kid. Plus my grandpa built airplanes, so I was a bit of a homer. It would be cool as hell.

But like Straight, No Chaser said, good luck Millionaire.

[BEAVER]

Originally Posted by Chiefs4TheWin

Certainly looks like an aircraft, I guess we'll find out when they get something down there.

Good news is you can narrow down plane types fairly easily even by looking at something simple as a bar on the landing gear. Chances of them not identifying the model is extremely low.

If it's the same model then we're talkin!

What is the name of that company that rents out submarines for trips to the deep?

[ToxSocks]

Oh look it's this story again.

[chiefzilla1501]

Oh shit, i bet it was buried next to a chargers super bowl ring

[Eleazar]

Originally Posted by BEAVER

What is the name of that company that rents out submarines for trips to the deep?

I think they're out of business now. At least I hope they are.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Buehler445

Yeah, the swept wing thing is a killer for me. They're swept at the same angle and it wouldn't be the case if it was because of damage.

It would be exciting. Growing up in Kansas I was a big fan of hers as a kid. Plus my grandpa built airplanes, so I was a bit of a homer. It would be cool as hell.

But like Straight, No Chaser said, good luck Millionaire.

Yeah, and I don't see wings bending like that and staying attached in most crash scenarios. They're either going to break off when the plane hits the water or they're going to remain intact if it was a soft landing. And even if they somehow did the "bend but don't break" thing, the odds are miniscule that they would bend at the same angle.

This is a publicity thing.

[warpaint*]

It’s fun to follow like other unsolved high profile events. I’ll believe it when it’s proven.

[Eleazar]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Yeah, and I don't see wings bending like that and staying attached in most crash scenarios. They're either going to break off when the plane hits the water or they're going to remain intact if it was a soft landing. And even if they somehow did the "bend but don't break" thing, the odds are miniscule that they would bend at the same angle.

This is a publicity thing.

I wonder if it's possible this is a distortion of the sonar image or deterioration of the wreckage... something of that nature.

I wouldn't be putting up money for an expedition to the site but it's an interesting mystery.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Eleazar

I wonder if it's possible this is a distortion of the sonar image or deterioration of the wreckage... something of that nature.

I wouldn't be putting up money for an expedition to the site but it's an interesting mystery.

Maaaaybe. I'm skeptical, but they presumably know enough about this stuff that perhaps there's some explanation for it.

[KCJake]

Really be cool if this mystery could get solved. Prob won't though. The oceans a big place. The thought that she made it to a remote island and survived for a some period always intrigued me. The whole Cast Away thing

[Dante84]

MMMMAHHHH EEEEEE AHHHHIIIIII DON'T KNOW JIM!!!! IT'S MAYBE? AHHHEEEIIIITT'S AH I THINK HE! I THINK IT MIGHT BE AHMEEEELIA'S PLANE, BUT AGAIN, AHHHH - OH I DUNNO JIM!!!

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by KCJake

Really be cool if this mystery could get solved. Prob won't though. The oceans a big place. The thought that she made it to a remote island and survived for a some period always intrigued me. The whole Cast Away thing

I always bought into the Gardner Island crash theory.

Came down for a hard landing on a reef and survived (question as to whether or not Noonan did). Eventually she (or they) died of dehydration and scavenging coconut crabs took care of the rest, including scattering the remains.

The plane crashing on a reef would've eventually been buffeted to pieces, scattered and grown over.