How to see Deep Sea Vision brothers, who may have found Amelia Earhart's plane

Stacey Saldanha-Olson, Topeka Capital-Journal
Updated ·2 min read

Ever been curious of what happened to Amelia Earhart on her last plane ride? At this year's Amelia Earhart Festival, some of those questions might get answered.

During the annual festival, the Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum will present multiple panels at Fox Theatre and O’Malley-McAllister Auditorium with explorers in search of Earhart's plane, including two brothers who believe they have found it.

Atchison's Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum, shown here, will present multiple deep sea explorers who are in search for Earhart's missing plane.
Atchison's Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum, shown here, will present multiple deep sea explorers who are in search for Earhart's missing plane.

What is the Amelia Earhart Festival?

Every year, the Atchison community comes together to celebrate Earhart, the world-famous pilot from their city.

Museum founder Karen Seaberg said the weekend-long celebration typically is a mixture of educational opportunities and party activities.

She said one of her favorite things every year is the firework show, but she's also excited to participate in all the educational activities.

"I always look forward to the fireworks," Seaberg said. "We've done them for 25 years, but I think the readers need to know that the real heart of the festival is the panel discussions."

Festival events will begin Thursday afternoon and will conclude Saturday night. The schedule can be found on the Atchison website.

Deep Sea Vision’s underwater drone preparing for launch into the Pacific Ocean to search for Earhart's plane. The Romeo brothers will speak at this year's celebration about the search for her plan.
Deep Sea Vision’s underwater drone preparing for launch into the Pacific Ocean to search for Earhart's plane. The Romeo brothers will speak at this year's celebration about the search for her plan.

Why is this year's Amelia Earhart Festival different?

Deep sea explorers Tony and Lloyd Romeo from Deep Sea Vision will visit to discuss the search for Earhart's missing plane and why they think they have found it.

"This event offers you the opportunity to participate in a thrilling conversation with deep sea explorer, Tony Romeo, CEO of Deep Sea Vision and explorer in the search for Amelia Earhart’s iconic plane," the panel event description says on the museum's website.

A panel about their exploration will be at 9 a.m. Saturday. The Romeo brothers will talk about their 90-day Pacific expedition using some of the most advanced deep-sea sonar that captured the plane-shaped sonar image they say matches the dimensions of Amelia’s Lockheed Electra 10-E.

They also will discuss plans for their upcoming “confirmation expedition” with members of the Earhart family.

Also special to this year's celebration, Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum curator of aeronautics Dorothy Cochrane will moderate another panel Friday where multiple explorers in search for Earhart's missing plane will discuss sonar imaging and the extraordinary challenges of the deep-sea search for Earhart's plane.

"I think it is truly exciting having Dorothy be a moderator," Seaberg said. "She knows as much as there is to know about Amelia, but she is not as familiar with their searches."

Both panels will be free to the public with advance registration needed.

Another reason Seaberg said Cochrane's visit is so exciting is because next year she will apply to have the museum be a Smithsonian affiliate museum, which creates partnerships with museums across the country.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Atchison to celebrate Amelia Earhart and lead discussion on search

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