Expedition departs for remote island

A team from the Archaeological Legacy Institute and Purdue University left Kiribati's capital on Wednesday. They expect to reach Nikumaroro Island in the Pacific Ocean by Monday.

They're searching for Earhart's plane

The researchers hope to inspect the Taraia Object, spotted in satellite imagery in 2020 on the edge of a lagoon off Nikumaroro. Aerial photography from 1938 also shows the object.

Earhart vanished in 1937

American aviator Amelia Earhart disappeared while attempting to circumnavigate the globe in 1937. She was piloting her Electra twin-engine plane when it vanished without trace near Howland Island.

The journey to the island

The team departed Kiribati on Wednesday aboard the Marin Mainiku, a Kiribati National Shipping Line vessel. The eight hundred thirty mile journey takes them to Nikumaroro, also part of Kiribati.

What the expedition lead expects

Richard Pettigrew, head of the Archaeological Legacy Institute and expedition lead, said finding Earhart's Electra would be the discovery of a lifetime.

“Finding Amelia Earhart's Electra aircraft would be the discovery of a lifetime.”

Sceptics doubt the theory

Ric Gillespie, who specialises in recovering historic aircraft wrecks, told Reuters the object looked like a tree that fell from the atoll into nearby water. He said the plane likely broke apart long ago.

“I'd love to find that airplane. It ain't gonna happen.”

Previous searches have failed

In 2024, researchers said sonar imaging near Howland Island found Earhart's plane at four thousand eight hundred seventy-seven metres below the surface. It was later confirmed to be a rock formation.