Watch | Explorers Claim They May Have Found Aviation Pioneer Amelia Earhart's Plane

The disappearance and death of aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart who made history as the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic in 1932 remains one of the greatest mysteries in aviation history. Earhart is remembered for her commitment to breaking gender barriers in aviation which continues to inspire generations but her fans still lament that the mystery behind her disappearance remains unsolved.

Earhart disappeared in 1937, while attempting to circumnavigate the globe, while flying over the Pacific Ocean. Her disappearance has fueled speculation and various theories, while some suggest that she may have crash-landed on a remote island and been captured by the Japanese soldiers.

Despite extensive searches, the circumstances of her death remain one of the greatest mysteries in aviation history. Fred Noonan, who also accompanied her on the trip, died along with her.

Underwater archaeologists and marine experts continue their efforts to understand the events surrounding the disappearance of Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan. The US government maintains that aviation pioneer Earhart and Noonan crashed into the ocean after running out of fuel.

However, some also believe the duo became castaways on an island and some believe that Earhart was a spy who was caught by the Japanese soldiers.

A report by broadcaster CNN said a research team found Earhart’s twin-engine plane deep beneath the ocean, still preserved because of the deep ocean’s cold temperature.

“We started by examining her final flight. We looked at her flight path. We analysed the winds, her altitude, all the information that we had and we came up with an area that we thought was reasonable and the highest probability for where she could have went down,” CEO of Deep Sea Vision, pilot and former intelligence officer with the US Air Force, Tony Romeo, was quoted as saying by news agency Reuters.

Earhart and Noonan’s flight disappeared after taking off from Papua New Guinea and researchers believe they found Earhart’s twin-engine plane 161 kilometres away from Howland Island, the next planned stop on Earhart and Noonan’s itinerary.

“Well, if you look at the sonar image, there’s three key characteristics on it; You see the twin vertical stabilisers in the back, and you see those very clearly in the image. The area where we found the aircraft was super flat and sandy. And so to see anything protruding above the surface, would be highly unusual. And then thirdly, the size of the aircraft and the dimensions are very close to what we’d expect for her aircraft,” Tony Romeo told news agency Reuters.

Ocean exploration company Deep Sea Vision sent an expedition to the Pacific Ocean between September and December last year and researchers who took part in the expedition spotted a small aircraft-shaped anomaly 16,000 feet below sea level through sonar imaging which is used to map the seafloor with sound waves.

“Once it got to the seafloor, it would have rested gently there without a lot of movement. There’s very few, very small currents on the seafloor. And then at that depth, at 6000 meters, or closer to 5000 meters the pH and the temperature of the water actually preserves things very well,” he further added.

Now the ocean exploration company needs to return to the site to confirm whether the find is a plane.