Tony Romeo and his team had nothing to show for 89 days on a three-month expedition to find Amelia Earhart’s missing plane.
On day 90, they may have made the discovery of a lifetime. Sonar images from 16,000 feet under the sea have captured what Romeo is “confident” is the key to one of the country’s most fascinating mysteries.
“We were frustrated. We were disappointed. And everyone was on each other’s nerves,” Romeo said. “And then, boom, it appeared on the screen. It was kind of a surreal moment and one we’ll always remember.”
Romeo took his findings to the Scripps Research Institute and the Smithsonian Institution, which confirmed his strong belief that he had found Earhart’s plane.
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Sonar image enlarged side by side with Earhart’s Electra. (Tony Romeo/Deep Sea Vision CEO)
Earhart’s plane disappeared on July 2, 1937, near Howland Island, an uninhabited island just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean.
Her body or spaceship was never found, leading to endless speculation and theories ranging from crashing on another island to conspiracies and alien abduction.
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Deep Sea Division CEO Tony Romeo uses a propeller plane to explain why he thinks he discovered Amelia Earhart’s plane. (Chris Everhart/Fox News Digital)
The most commonly accepted theory is that she ran out of fuel.
“She probably lowered it to the surface as gently as she could and then tried to climb out of the hatch right above the cockpit,” Romeo explained.
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View Highlights of the Deep Sea Vision Expedition
As he spoke, he mimicked the movements using a propeller plane and pointed to where the hatch would be. Then he put his fingers on his two engines in the front.
“The plane probably nosed up pretty quickly (because of its weight) and then spiraled all the way to the ocean floor,” the Air Force veteran said.
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They discovered what may be the missing ship about 16,000 feet below the sea. By comparison, the wreckage of the Titanic lies at a depth of about 12,500 feet.
“At the 16,000 feet altitude where we found this, the plane is probably in very good condition and very well preserved because of the temperature, the pH level, the anoxic level in the water,” Romeo said. Told.
Sonar image of Amelia Earhart’s possible aircraft. (Tony Romeo/Deep Sea Vision CEO)
Sonar images of areas surveyed by DSV around Howland Island – October 2023. (Tony Romeo/Deep Sea Vision CEO)
Earhart’s plane also has distinctive features that appear to be seen in the blurry sonar images she described during a visit to Fox News Digital on Tuesday.
“The tail, you can see those twin vertical tails,” Romeo said, pointing his finger at the propeller plane. “The topography of the ocean floor is flat and sandy, so when we see something sticking out above the ocean floor, we immediately become suspicious.
“And third, the size of the aircraft is within the dimensions we would expect for her aircraft. And there are no other known aircraft crashes in this region.”
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Although Romeo said “there’s always the possibility that something strange happened,” the Scripps Institution and Smithsonian Institution have discovered the wreckage of the plane in which Romeo crashed, theoretically confirming Earhart’s disappearance. agreed to match the aircraft.
Dorothy Cochran, curator of aeronautics at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, told Fox News Digital that Deep Sea Vision’s sonar images are “interesting” and that its location is the most likely location of the infamous shipwreck. He said it coincides with a high location.
The team gathers to review the data returned by the sonar system when it returns to the surface. Due to the amount of data collected, a thorough review of all seafloor images may take several days to complete. (Tony Romeo/Deep Sea Vision CEO)
Deepwater CEO Tony Romeo uses a propeller plane to illustrate the features of Amelia Earhart’s plane. (Chris Everhart/Fox News Digital)
“The disappearance of Earhart and Noonan near Howland Island was one of the great mysteries of the 20th century and continues into the 21st century,” Cochran said.
“Earhart was a very famous pilot and woman of her time, and her circumnavigation of the world was noted by the press, newsreels, and the general public.
“If we could find her Electra, it would be today’s headline news. With this great mystery solved, we could focus on her pioneering aviation career and her contributions to aviation and women’s issues.” It is.”
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That’s why it’s important to continue our mission. She implored Romeo’s team to “continue their research and collect detailed photographs to identify the actual object.”
And that’s his next step. He said it’s currently in the planning stages but hopes to be back by the end of this year.
“The next step is to check the plane,” Romeo said.
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Some say it uses high-tech underwater probes to take clear pictures to “figure out how it’s sitting and analyze whether it’s structurally sound or if it’s becoming fragile.” Maybe.”
“It might look like almost one of the wings is bent down, or maybe it’s upside down and one of the wings is caved in,” Romeo said. Undersea. ”
The deep-sea sonar (commonly known as Miss Millie) is preparing for launch on the surface of the water. Each dive lasts approximately 36 hours, during which the system explores completely independently, returning to the surface only when the battery needs to be replaced. (Tony Romeo/Deep Sea Vision CEO)
Earhart was one of the greatest pilots of her time and broke the glass ceiling for the feminist movement.
Born into an aviation family, Romeo was always drawn to her amazing story and century-old mystery.
After graduating from the Air Force Academy and entering the military, Romeo dabbled in law and started a real estate company, which he sold to fund his deep-sea visions and expeditions.
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“My father flew for Pan Am, and for many years my brother was a pilot, my sister was a pilot, and I went to the Air Force Academy,” Romeo said. “I mean, this is a story I grew up hearing.
“So it was the perfect intersection in my life to try something new at the point where I was trying to get out of commercial real estate.”
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And he may have solved one of the most complex unknown mysteries in American history.
fox news digital emmett jones contributed to this report
