By Tim Binnall
A team of explorers who may have captured a sonar image of Amelia Earhart's downed plane has provided an update on their quest to solve the longstanding mystery of the pioneering pilot's fate. The group, Deep Sea Vision, made headlines earlier this year when they revealed the tantalizing possible glimpse of what appears to be a small aircraft sitting on the ocean floor off the coast of Howell Island, where it is suspected that the legendary aviatrix's flight came to its untimely end. Brothers Tony and Lloyd Romeo, who spearheaded the exhaustive expedition, participated in a panel at this past weekend's annual Amelia Earhart Festival in Atchison, Kansas, where they provided insight into the group's plans to zero in on the submerged anomaly.
While conceding that "there's certainly room for skepticism here," Lloyd reportedly offered the rather optimistic assessment that the group is 85% confident that they have found Earhart's lost plane. To that end, he later noted to a local TV station that the measurements of the anomaly in the sonar image are "very close" to those of the iconic Electra aircraft that vanished back in 1937. Having possibly located the plane, Lloyd explained that the group has since upgraded the camera used by the underwater drone that picked up the original sonar image. Envisioning a future dive at the site, he explained that the submersible would illuminate the darkened location with a laser to observe the peculiar object.
Ultimately, if the anomaly is a downed aircraft, the group hopes to spot the tail number on its wing, which could confirm their suspicions that it is Earhart's Electra. Should that be the case, Tony expressed confidence that the plane remains sturdy enough to be removed from the ocean floor, declaring that "I don’t want to lose one rivet of this thing" in the process. If the remains of Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan are still in the aircraft, he posited that their bodies should be brought back to the United States where they can rest in peace at last. As for when the group may return to the location, while they did not give a specific date, they indicated that the second expedition could take place sometime later this year.