Photo: Getty Images
The hunt forAmelia Earhart‘s plane is reaching new heights.
Robert Ballard — the explorer whodiscovered theTitanicin 1985 — isleading a new searchfor Earhart’s Lockheed Electra 10E aircraft.
“There are various theories about where Amelia’s plane landed, and some of them are a little wild,” Ballard said in aNational Geographicfeaturepublished on Monday. “We’re going with the one that she actually landed.”
The theory, whichThe International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery(TIGHAR) has been investigating for decades, is largely based off of Earhart’s last recognizable radio transmissions, which indicated “that the plane was flying on a northwest to southeast navigational line that bisected Howland Island,” according toNatGeo.
Nikumaroro is southeast of Howland Island, while there is nothing but open Pacific waters to the northwest.
Robert Ballard.Daniel Zuchnik/WireImage
Although TIGHAR researchers have visited Nikumaroro 13 times in pursuit of the Electra, Ballard’s technological tools are a level-up.
Ballard’s ship, theE/VNautilus,is decked out with “a multi-beam sonar on the hull, two [remotely operated vehicles (ROVs)] with high definition cameras, an autonomous surface vehicle (ASV), and multiple drones,”NatGeo‘s report said.
“Everything I ever found was found visually,” Ballard said. ROV pilots take turns in four-hour shifts patrolling the seascape, “looking for colors that aren’t natural to the background.”
RELATED VIDEO: Story Behind the Story: Does This Photo Prove Amelia Earhart Survived Her Final Flight?
Ballard doesn’t seem to worried about false alarms, however, tellingNatGeo, “We did this nine days for theTitanic.”
The story of Ballard’s search will be told in a two-hourNational Geographicdocumentary,Expedition Amelia, set to premiere on October 20.
source: people.com
