​Renewed Interest in Amelia Earhart’s Final Flight

Renewed Interest in Amelia Earhart’s Final Flight

对阿梅莉亚·埃尔哈特最后一次飞行的重新关注

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　　By Gregory Stachel

　　31 January 2024

　　An unclear sonar image recorded by a private pilot has renewed interest in a past mystery: What happened to Amelia Earhart, the pilot who disappeared in 1937 with her plane?

　　Many searches have found nothing. But Tony Romeo now believes his new South Carolina-based sea exploration company captured a partial image of Earhart's famous plane.

　　Researchers and explorers are hopeful. But whether Earhart's plane lies at about 4,800 meters beneath the ocean remains to be seen.

　　How was the object found?

　　Romeo said he had long held interest in the Earhart mystery. So, he bought a $9 million underwater drone from a Norwegian company. The drone is called the Hugin 6000. It includes the newest technology. It can dive down to 6,000 meters.

　　A 16-person crew began a search in the western Pacific Ocean in September 2023. They searched over 13,400 square kilometers of seafloor. The crew searched around Howland Island between Papua New Guinea and Hawaii.

　　But it was not until the team looked at the sonar data in December that they saw the unclear yellow outline of what looked like a plane.

　　"In the end, we came out with an image of a target that we believe very strongly is Amelia's aircraft," Romeo told the Associated Press.

　　The next step is taking a camera underwater to better examine the unidentified object. If camera images confirm the explorers' hopes, Romeo said the goal would be to raise Earhart's airplane.

　　Romeo said his team undertook the trip to "solve aviation's greatest unsolved mystery." Depending on what they find, they might answer if Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, escaped after hitting the ocean, or learn more about what went wrong.

　　The mystery of Earhart

　　Earhart and Noonan disappeared while flying from New Guinea to Howland Island. That trip was part of her attempt to become the first female pilot to fly around the world. She had radioed that she was running low on fuel.

　　The Navy searched but found nothing. The U.S. government's official position has been that Earhart and Noonan went down with their plane.

　　Since then, there have been many theories. They include that Earhart was taken by aliens, lived in New Jersey under another name, she was killed by the Japanese, or died on an island.

　　"Amelia is America's favorite missing person," Romeo said.

　　‘We need to see more'

　　Sea archaeologist James Delgado said Romeo's possible find would change the story, but "we need to see more."

　　"Let's drop some cameras down there and take a look," said Delgado. He is senior vice president of the archaeological company SEARCH.

　　Delgado said Romeo's search used the newest technologies that were once only available to the government.

　　But he said Romeo's team must provide detailed documentation to prove it is Earhart's plane.

　　If the object really is the historic aircraft, the question for the team is if it is safe to raise. How much of the plane is left would be decided by how smoothly Earhart landed," said Dorothy Cochrane of the National Air and Space Museum.

　　"That's where you have to really look at this image and say, ‘What have we got here?'" said Cochrane.

　　What if Earhart's plane has been found?

　　If the discovery turns out to be her plane, international rules for underwater archaeology would suggest that the aircraft remain where it is, said Ole Varmer. He is a retired lawyer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and an advisor at The Ocean Foundation, an environmental group based in Washington, D.C.

　　Less damaging research can still be carried out to find why the plane crashed, Varmer said.

　　Varmer added, "You preserve as much of the story as you can." And he said, "When you salvage it, you're destroying part of the site, which can provide information."

　　Raising the plane and showing it to the public would likely cost hundreds of millions of dollars, Varmer said. And while Romeo could possibly make a salvage claim in a court, the plane's owner has the right to deny it.

　　Earhart bought the plane with money raised, at least in part, by the Purdue Research Foundation, Purdue University in Indiana said in a blog. She planned to return the aircraft to the school.

　　Romeo said the team believes the plane belongs in the Smithsonian. He said the issue likely presents a new kind of legal case. He said his exploration company will "deal with those as they come up."

　　I'm Gregory Stachel.

　　James Pollard and Ben Finley reported this story for The Associated Press. Gregory Stachel adapted it for VOA Learning English.

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　　作者：格雷戈里·斯塔切尔

　　2024年1月31日

　　一位私人飞行员记录的不清晰的声纳图像重新引发了对过去一个谜团的关注：1937年消失的飞行员阿梅莉亚·埃尔哈特和她的飞机发生了什么？

　　许多搜寻都一无所获。但是托尼·罗密欧现在相信他的新成立的南卡罗来纳州海洋探索公司捕捉到了埃尔哈特著名飞机的部分图像。

　　研究人员和探险家们充满希望。但是埃尔哈特的飞机是否位于海洋下约4800米的地方，还有待观察。

　　这个物体是如何被发现的？

　　罗密欧说，他对埃尔哈特的神秘事件一直很感兴趣。因此，他从一家挪威公司购买了一台价值900万美元的水下无人机。这台无人机被称为Hugin 6000，它包含了最新的技术，可以潜入6000米的深度。

　　一个由16人组成的团队在2023年9月开始在西太平洋进行搜索。他们搜索了超过13400平方公里的海底。团队在巴布亚新几内亚和夏威夷之间的豪兰岛周围进行了搜索。

　　但直到团队在12月查看声纳数据时，他们才看到了一个看起来像飞机的不清晰的黄色轮廓。

　　"最后，我们得到了一个目标的图像，我们非常坚信这就是阿梅莉亚的飞机，"罗密欧告诉美联社。

　　下一步是将摄像机带入水下，以更好地检查这个未识别的物体。如果摄像机的图像证实了探险者的希望，罗密欧说，目标将是打捞埃尔哈特的飞机。

　　罗密欧说，他的团队进行这次旅行是为了"解决航空史上最大的未解之谜"。根据他们找到的东西，他们可能会回答埃尔哈特和她的领航员弗雷德·努南是否在撞击海洋后逃生，或者了解更多关于出了什么问题的信息。

　　“埃尔哈特的神秘失踪”

　　埃尔哈特和努南在从新几内亚飞往豪兰岛的途中失踪。那次旅行是她试图成为第一位环球飞行的女飞行员的一部分。她曾通过无线电报告说她的燃料快要耗尽了。

　　海军进行了搜索，但什么也没找到。美国政府的官方立场一直是埃尔哈特和努南与他们的飞机一起坠毁。

　　从那时起，出现了许多理论。包括埃尔哈特被外星人带走，她在新泽西州以另一个名字生活，她被日本人杀害，或者在一个岛上死亡。

　　“阿米莉亚是美国最受欢迎的失踪人员，”罗密欧说。

　　“我们需要看到更多”

　　海洋考古学家詹姆斯·德尔加多说，罗密欧可能的发现会改变这个故事，但是“我们需要看到更多。”

　　"让我们把一些摄像机放下去看看，"德尔加多说。他是考古公司SEARCH的高级副总裁。

　　德尔加多说，罗密欧的搜索使用了曾经只有政府才能使用的最新技术。

　　但他说，罗密欧的团队必须提供详细的文档来证明这是埃尔哈特的飞机。

　　如果这个物体真的是那架历史性的飞机，那么团队需要考虑的问题是是否安全抬起。飞机剩下多少部分将取决于埃尔哈特降落的平稳程度，"国家航空和太空博物馆的多萝西·科克兰说。

　　"这就是你真的需要看这个图像并说，‘我们在这里找到了什么？’"科克兰说。

　　如果找到了埃尔哈特的飞机会怎样？

　　如果发现确实是她的飞机，国际水下考古规则建议飞机应该留在原地，奥勒·瓦尔默说。他是国家海洋和大气管理局的退休律师，也是总部位于华盛顿特区的环保组织The Ocean Foundation的顾问。

　　瓦尔默说，可以进行较少破坏性的研究，以找出飞机为什么会坠毁。

　　瓦尔默补充说，“你要尽可能地保留故事。”他还说，“当你打捞它时，你正在破坏部分遗址，这些遗址可以提供信息。”

　　瓦尔默说，打捞飞机并向公众展示可能需要数亿美元。虽然罗密欧可能在法庭上提出打捞索赔，但飞机的所有者有权拒绝。

　　印第安纳州的普渡大学在一篇博客中说，埃尔哈特用筹集的资金购买了这架飞机，至少部分资金来自普渡研究基金会。她计划将飞机归还给学校。

　　罗密欧说，团队认为飞机应该归属于史密森尼学会。他说，这个问题可能会引发一种新的法律案例。他说他的探险公司将“随着问题的出现而处理”。

　　我是格雷戈里·斯塔切尔。

　　詹姆斯·波拉德和本·芬利为美联社报道了这个故事。格雷戈里·斯塔切尔为VOA学英语改编了它。

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　　这个故事中的词汇

　　sonar – n. 一种通过使用声波寻找水下物体的设备

　　drone – n. 一种无需飞行员即可飞行的小型飞机

　　aircraft – n. 一种通过空气飞行的机器（如飞机或直升机）

　　aviation – n. 飞行飞机或直升机的业务或实践

　　navigate – v. 当你在船、飞机或汽车上旅行时，找到到达某地的路线

　　alien – n. 来自地球以外其他地方的生物

　　archeology – n.一门通过研究古人的骨骼或工具来研究过去人类生活和活动的科学

　　preserve – v. 保持（某物）原始状态或良好状况

　　salvage – v. 从某地移除（某物），以免其受损、被破坏或丢失