Amelia Earhart's plane found? New expedition searches Pacific

A US-based team of marine archaeologists has set sail for a tiny island in the far western Pacific, driven by the hope of solving one of the 20th century's greatest unsolved mysteries: the 1937 disappearance of Amelia Earhart.

Backed by Purdue University, the expedition aims to investigate a submerged object detected by satellite imagery six years ago. If confirmed as Earhart's twin-engine Lockheed Electra 10-E, this would support the hypothesis that Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan crash-landed near Nikumaroro island and died as castaways.

The expedition, led by Richard Pettigrew of the Archaeological Legacy Institute, is expected to arrive at Nikumaroro, an uninhabited atoll in the Phoenix Islands, part of the Kiribati Republic. This mission faces skepticism from some, including rival explorer Ric Gillespie, who believes the object is a fallen pandanus tree.

Gillespie, who has led numerous expeditions to the island, has amassed evidence supporting the castaway theory, including artifacts and forensic analysis of skeletal remains. Despite his doubts, the Purdue team credits his foundational work for their current endeavor.

Previously, two attempts, including one by Robert Ballard in 2019, failed to locate the wreckage in the surrounding ocean. The official US government stance has long been that Earhart's plane ran out of fuel and crashed at sea near Howland Island, her intended refueling stop. Earhart, attempting to become the first woman to fly around the world, was last heard from on July 3, 1937, reporting low fuel.

The $900,000 Purdue mission, comprising 17 individuals, plans a five-day stay on Nikumaroro before returning to Tarawa. Purdue, which financially supported the development of Earhart's Electra, aims to recover any potential wreckage, though no artifacts would be removed on this trip without further permission from the Kiribati government.