Special Report: Finding Amelia

David Jourdan, Nauticos Ocean Discovery
"Amelia disappeared without a trace, and given she was such a famous character, the mystery has just been very compelling."

He's never failed in finding something he's searched for - now he's hot on the trail of Amelia Earhart's plane. Underwater explorer David Jourdan of Maine, says others have searched and failed, simply because-

David Jourdan, Nauticos Ocean Discovery
"They all involved searching somewhere other than where she was last heard from."

Earhart was last heard frantically trying to reach Howland Island, a tiny speck of land, in the vast South Pacific. It was the final leg of her 1937 around-the-world odyssey, and her plane was running out of fuel.

David Jourdan, Nauticos Ocean Discovery
"She didn’t have much time, probably less than an hour at that point."

As the final minutes ticked by, her radio calls grew desperate - then, nothing. A vast air and land search came up empty - not a trace.

In March, Jourdan will take a second shot at finding the plane. Two years ago, using sophisticated sonar, Jourdan's team scanned 600 square miles of the ocean floor. Then, like a scene from a movie, a cable let go….

David Jourdan, Nauticos Ocean Discovery
"We had a winch spinning out of control, and all of our 15 tons of gear and sonar were spiraling toward the bottom."

Jourdan had to abort the mission. Later, after looking over his sonar scans, he saw two small images - could this be Earhart's plane?

David Jourdan, Nauticos Ocean Discovery
"That's possible, but no guarantees."

Jourdan won't know until he goes back to the site and lowers a video camera on the images.

David Jourdan, Nauticos Ocean Discovery
"We believe we have an excellent chance of finding the plane."

George Putnam, Earhart's stepson
"I'd like to encourage them in anyway to do this if they can, to have luck."

No one wants to see this mystery revealed more than George Putnam, Earhart's stepson.

Putnam was 16 at the time of her disappearance and says Jourdan and his team have the right stuff.

George Putnam, Earhart's stepson
"It's like a needle in a haystack, if they can find it, wonderful."

David Jourdan, Nauticos Ocean Discovery
"People wish us luck, and I don't want luck, because luck can be bad, if we do our job right, and have no luck at all, we should be successful."

Jourdan believes the cold ocean water has preserved the plane. If he does recover it, he says some of Earhart’s personal belongings could be intact.

For more information:

Nauticos, David Jourdan's company:
http://www.nauticos.com
 
Map of Earhart's journey:
http://www.tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/worldflight.html  

Official Earhart website:
http://www.ameliaearhart.com