Plane in the lagoon at Orona
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Re: Plane in the lagoon at Orona
Contrary to my speculation, I think the bulky things under the tarps as seen on the aft camera(s) are the launch and retrieve boat for the ASV autonomous surface vessel DRiX. The ship passed 250 miles east of the Phoenix Islands on the transit from Hawaii to Samoa.
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Re: Plane in the lagoon at Orona
The Nautilus is just Northwest of Tutuila American Samoa. This is near the location of the tragic 1938 air disaster of the Samoan Clipper S-42. Captain Musick and entire crew were lost. I think maybe Dr. Ballard is searching for the lost ship just as the Nautilus did in 2019. Nautilus has multiple vehicles in the water including the ASV Drix. This is encouraging. Hopefully the expedition will look for Amelia's airplane in the lagoon at Orona. We'll see later this fall.
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Re: Plane in the lagoon at Orona
Nautilus has started the Howland Island area cruise. Mapping the ocean bottom is the mission of this expedition. In transit the various heading courses has the ship located just off the West side of Nikumaroro and heading North. Looks as though sonar search along the path will be looking for the mysterious object spotted earlier this year by another expedition that claims the object is Amelia's aircraft. Of course that sonar image can't be the plane as claimed because the 2006 satellite image shows the aircraft in the lagoon at Orona (Hull Island). For some reason, Google Earth still hasn't updated the Kiribati island name despite the change years ago. Amelia's aircraft is measurable and all the dimensions correspond exactly with the L10E Electra aircraft. In transit from Samoa, the Nautilus came within 140 NM of Orona. If the remainder of the year is dedicated to other expeditions, it looks as though the chances of investigation at Orona are over for 2024.