Expedition to search for Amelia Earhart’s aircraft to begin in October

An international expedition will set sail in October to investigate whether the wreckage of Amelia Earhart’s Lockheed Electra 10-E lies near Nikumaroro Island in the central Pacific, nearly 90 years after the pioneering aviator disappeared during her round-the-world flight.

Led by the Archaeological Legacy Institute (ALI) in partnership with Purdue University, the 16-member team will travel from Kiribati to the remote atoll to examine the so-called Taraia Object, a feature identified in satellite imagery that some researchers believe could be Earhart’s aircraft. The mission was originally scheduled for 2025 but was delayed while permits were secured.

The expedition aims to test the long-debated Nikumaroro Hypothesis, which suggests Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan landed on the island after failing to reach Howland Island in July 1937. Supporters cite historical radio transmissions, 1930s artefacts recovered on the island and a controversial 2018 analysis of human remains found there in 1940. However, some researchers dispute the theory, arguing the object seen in satellite imagery is simply a fallen coconut tree.

If successful, the mission could provide the strongest evidence yet in one of aviation’s greatest unsolved mysteries. Purdue University, which helped finance Earhart’s final aircraft and employed her before her final flight, described the expedition as an opportunity to seek answers while honouring the legacy of one of the world’s most celebrated aviation pioneers.