South Carolina, United States

An ocean exploration team led by a former United States Air Force intelligence officer and pilot claims to have solved one of the biggest mysteries in modern aviation, the location of Amelia Earhart’s plane which vanished in 1937 over the Pacific. 

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What did the team find?

Last year, Tony Romeo, CEO of Deep Sea Vision embarked on an $11 million expedition which involved combing through the Pacific Ocean and using sonar technology. He may have found what might be the key to solving the decades-long mystery over the legendary pilot’s disappearance. 

The 16-person team from the company based in the US state of South Carolina released an image in December that it claims may show the wreckage of the aeroplane flown by Earhart. The image was taken after searching through more than 13,468 of the ocean floor between September and December last year. 

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After Romeo’s team reviewed sonar data in December they found a startling image of what appears to be Earhart’s twin-engine Lockheed 10-E Electra.

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The photo was taken around 161 kilometres from Howland Island – an uninhabited isle almost halfway between Hawaii and Australia. 

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While the image is blurry, the CEO of Deep Sea Vision believes that 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,” Romeo told NBC News. 

He added, “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.”

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Romeo’s team will further investigate the site to determine that it is in fact the long-lost aircraft. The team has been using a Kongsberg Discovery HUGIN 6000, which according to the company’s post on Instagram, is the most advanced unmanned underwater drone. 

The underwater drone is manufactured by the Norwegian company Kongsberg. According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, the image of the suspected wreck was found 5,000 metres underwater. 

About the deep-sea exploration

Romeo, a South Carolina real estate investor, in 2023 sold his business to fund his search for Earhart’s plane wreckage. 

In July 1937, the legendary pilot who was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, was supposed to land on Howland Island for refuelling, but she never did. 

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Earhart and her navigator were last heard from when they departed Lae, New Guinea, and since then the mystery surrounding her fate and intense speculation continues to intrigue people decades later. 

“This is maybe the most exciting thing I’ll ever do in my life. I feel like a 10-year-old going on a treasure hunt,” Romeo told the WSJ. 

(With inputs from agencies)