Discovery of Amelia Earhart's Plane

Background

• Amelia Earhart's mission to fly around the world ended in mystery nearly 90 years ago.
• She is considered America's favorite missing person.
• Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, took off from Papua New Guinea in July 1937.
• They were headed for Howland Island in the Central Pacific.
• Earhart made six radio calls during her flight, each providing important clues.

Recent Developments

• A team of explorers from Ocean exploration company Deep Sea Vision believes they might have found Earhart's lost plane.
• They released a sonar image showing what they think is the outline of Earhart's Lockheed Electra aircraft.
• The potential crash site is about 100 miles west of Howland Island.

Analysis and Findings

• Researchers analyzed Earhart's final flight, including wind speeds, altitude, and more, to map out a search area.
• It is believed Earhart ran out of gas and attempted a pancake landing into the water.
• The structure of the plane would likely have remained intact as it sank.

Discovery Details

• Using a high-tech submersible, the team searched thousands of miles of seafloor.
• They found an object more than 3 miles below the water, resembling Earhart's plane.
• The sonar image shows twin vertical stabilizers and dimensions close to Earhart's aircraft.
• Crews aim to return quickly with remote-controlled underwater vehicles for better pictures to confirm the object's identity.