Researchers believe they may have located the long-lost plane of aviator Amelia Earhart, 87 years after she disappeared. Sonar imaging captured what appears to be a small aircraft at a depth of around 4,877 metres (16,000 feet) in the Pacific Ocean. The discovery was made by Deep Sea Vision, an ocean exploration firm, which posted footage on Instagram on 27 January.
The team suggests the object could be Earhart's Lockheed 10-E Electra, which vanished in 1937 during her attempt to fly around the world with navigator Fred Noonan. However, experts have expressed doubt. Dorothy Cochrane, curator of aeronautics at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, noted that while she believes Earhart ran out of fuel near Howland Island, the sonar image alone is insufficient. 'Photographing the object would greatly assist in identifying it further,' she said.
Two main theories have long dominated the mystery: one that Earhart's plane crashed near Howland Island after running out of fuel, and another that she and Noonan survived to land on Nikumaroro, an uninhabited island about 640 km south of Howland. Forensic anthropologist Richard Jantz re-examined bone measurements from Nikumaroro in 2018, concluding they were 'more similar to Earhart's than 99 per cent of individuals' and suggesting she died there. He told the BBC that the new discovery does not change his view unless the plane is positively identified.
Richard Gillespie, founder of The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, also supports the Nikumaroro theory. He has led 12 expeditions and insists 'we know what happened' – that Earhart died on Nikumaroro. He dismissed the latest sonar image, stating, 'It is definitely not the Lockheed Electra... Any sonar expert will tell you that one grainy image doesn't tell you anything.' The debate continues, with researchers hoping to mount further expeditions to investigate.
