Pilot discovers Amelia Earhart's plane on ocean floor

Explorer Tony Romeo believes he's found Amelia Earhart's plane on the ocean floor. Experts say he's in the right spot.

For nearly 90 years, the world has been fascinated by the disappearance of Amelia Earhart and her plane. In 1937, Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan set off on a journey to become the first woman to fly around the world. However, with just 7,000 miles left on the trip, they lost radio contact near the Howland Islands, and they and their plane were never found, despite extensive searching in the area.

Now, an explorer, Tony Romeo, believes he has cracked the case. He sold his commercial properties to fund his search for Earhart's plane and believes he has been successful after collecting sonar images of an aircraft-shaped object on the ocean floor. The location of the images would line up with where Earhart's plane is believed to have disappeared, and experts believe the images are enough to encourage another look.

Romeo's company, Deep Sea Vision, has scanned more than 5,200 square miles of sea floor as part of the expedition and plans to return to the site to get a better look with more technology.

There have been numerous attempts to locate Earhart's plane over the last few decades, including theories that she landed on an island in the South Pacific. Researcher Ric Gillespie claims to have found documentation that Earhart was calling for help from the island using the plane's radio before it washed out to sea. Additionally, there have been forensic evidence and measurements of bones found on the island that are likely Earhart's.

It's too soon to tell whether the debris captured on sonar by Romeo and his team are, however, Earhart's ill-fated plane.