The loss of Amelia Earhart has stirred-up controversy ever since her mysterious disappearance while crossing the Pacific in 1937. When Elgen Long made his record round-the-world flight in 1971, he duplicated Earhart's approach to Howland Island. The result inspired him to investigate the facts surrounding her last flight to discover the truth of what actually happened.

The Elgen Long "Crash and Sink" theory is simple to understand. Amelia Earhart ran out of fuel before she could find tiny Howland Island and was forced to ditch her airplane in the ocean. Because her Lockheed Electra was a land plane, it filled with water and sank to the ocean bottom. It lies there in the deep abyss, undisturbed to this day.

Elgen had personal experience during World War II with the navigation techniques that Amelia Earhart and Noonan used at the time. He was appointed as an aircraft accident investigator by the Airline Pilots Association and has received training at the University of Southern California and Norton Air Force Base Crash Laboratory. The "Crash and Sink" theory is the culmination of a life's work and has been reviewed and confirmed by relevant experts in the fields of visual parameters, navigation, communications, and aircraft performance.

Related media: Read a reconstruction of Earhart's crash
More related media: Watch the 'Long' Search for Amelia Earhart (6min)