Home / Science / Satellite Images Reveal Potential Wreckage of Amelia Earhart's Aircraft
Satellite Images Reveal Potential Wreckage of Amelia Earhart's Aircraft
9 Oct
Summary
- Purdue University and Archaeological Legacy Institute to investigate submerged object in Pacific lagoon
- Object could be remains of Amelia Earhart's Lockheed Electra 10E plane from her final flight in 1937
- Expedition team to use drones, sonar, and magnetometers to examine the site
In October 2025, a new expedition led by Purdue University and the Archaeological Legacy Institute (ALI) is set to investigate a submerged object in the Nikumaroro lagoon that could be the remains of Amelia Earhart's Lockheed Electra 10E aircraft. The object, known as the "Taraia Object," was first noticed in 2020 by researcher Michael Ashmore in a satellite image captured in 2015, shortly after Cyclone Pam hit the region.
The 15-member expedition team will depart from Majuro in the Marshall Islands on November 4, 2025, and after a six-day journey, they will begin fieldwork at the site. Using drones, sonar, and magnetometers, the team plans to examine the object and eventually excavate it to determine if it is indeed the long-lost plane. Purdue University, which helped fund Earhart's final flight and has preserved her legacy, is supporting the project, seeing it as an opportunity to solve one of aviation's most enduring mysteries.
If the team confirms that the object is the Electra 10E, they intend to explore bringing the wreckage back to Purdue for further research and teaching, as was always the plan for Earhart and her husband. The expedition's results could be announced shortly after the team's investigation, which is expected to take several days starting around November 10, 2025.
