A map shows the remote Pacific island where Amelia Earhart is thought to have ended her ill-fated attempt to fly around the world nearly 90 years ago, as researchers arrive onshore to investigate a suspected wreck that could finally reveal the fate of the pioneering aviator and her missing plane.
The 17-person expedition backed by Purdue University are at Nikumaroro, an uninhabited coral atoll in the Republic of Kiribati, to investigate a submerged object that researchers believe could be part of Earhart's Lockheed Electra 10E aircraft.
The object, known as the “Taraia Object,” appears in satellite imagery of the island's lagoon. Its elongated shape has led researchers to suspect it could be the fuselage and tail of Earhart's missing plane.
The team from Purdue University and the Archaeological Legacy Institute (ALI) arrived on Monday after a five-day, 830-nautical-mile voyage across the South Pacific. Researchers plan to use sonar, magnetometers and other archaeological techniques to examine the object and determine what lies beneath the sediment.
If the object is confirmed to be part of Earhart's aircraft, it could provide crucial evidence about what happened during her final flight in July 1937.
On Tuesday, the team used chainsaws and machetes to clear an overgrown path to the island's lagoon, established staging areas and began assessing the research site, researchers told Newsweek. They encountered at least four of the island's giant, meat-eating coconut crabs on the way but reported they posed "no threat to the operation."
Members also walked the sandspit on the Taraia Peninsula to look for artifacts, while the maritime archaeology team examined conditions on the lagoon floor ahead of fieldwork scheduled to begin Wednesday.
“This case has taken a long time,” ALI Executive Director Dr. Richard Pettigrew told Newsweek previously in an exclusive interview. “But we have some new evidence. There’s an object visible in the Nikumaroro lagoon. Everything that we see indicates it’s very possible, perhaps even likely, that this is what remains of Amelia Earhart’s aircraft.”
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Amelia Earhart's Final Flight Route
Earhart disappeared on July 2, 1937, while attempting to become the first woman to fly around the world along the equator.
Her journey had begun in Oakland, California, in May 1937. Accompanied by navigator Fred Noonan, she traveled eastward across the United States before heading through the Caribbean, South America, Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia and Australia.
By the end of June, the pair had reached Lae, New Guinea, in what is now Papua New Guinea. Their next destination was Howland Island, a tiny, remote Pacific island where they planned to refuel before continuing their journey.
The flight from Lae to Howland was one of the most challenging legs of the journey, covering approximately 2,550 miles over open ocean.
Earhart and Noonan took off from Lae on July 2. The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Itasca was stationed near Howland Island to assist with radio communications and navigation.
But the plane never arrived.
Earhart reported difficulties communicating with the ship and indicated that fuel was running low. Her final known transmission to the Itasca gave a navigational line of position but did not establish her exact location.
The aircraft, Earhart and Noonan were never found.
The prevailing official explanation has been that the plane ran out of fuel and crashed into the Pacific Ocean near Howland Island. The Nikumaroro theory offers a different possibility: that the pair missed their intended destination, continued searching for land and eventually made an emergency landing on the atoll.
Nikumaroro lies approximately 400 miles southeast of Howland Island. Researchers investigating the Taraia Object hope that examining the suspected wreckage could help determine whether Earhart and Noonan reached the island.
What To Know About Nikumaroro Island
Nikumaroro is a remote coral atoll in the Phoenix Islands group of Kiribati, in the central Pacific Ocean. Formerly known as Gardner Island, it is surrounded by a coral reef and contains a lagoon at its center.
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The island is uninhabited today and lies far from major population centers, making archaeological investigations logistically difficult.
The island has attracted interest from Earhart researchers for decades because of the possibility that she and Noonan survived an emergency landing there.
Supporters of the castaway theory point to historical reports of human remains discovered on the island in 1940, along with artifacts that could potentially be associated with a castaway. The evidence has not conclusively established that the remains belonged to Earhart or Noonan.
The latest expedition is focused on a specific underwater target rather than searching the entire island or the surrounding ocean.
The Taraia Object was first noticed by researcher Michael Ashmore in satellite imagery in 2020. Researchers believe changes in lagoon sediment may have exposed part of the object, making its shape easier to see.
The team plans to survey the area systematically, using magnetometers to detect certain metal components and sonar to examine objects beneath the lagoon floor. A hydroprobe will help investigators assess the object's depth, orientation and surface composition. A water-induction dredge may then be used to remove sediment for visual inspection.
The expedition is being supported by Purdue University, where Earhart worked as a career counselor and aviation adviser from 1935 to 1937. The Purdue Research Foundation also helped fund the aircraft she used on her final journey.
“Our intent is to explore bringing it back to Purdue,” Kelly Hiller, Purdue’s chief marketing officer, said in an interview with Newsweek, previously. “That was always the plan—Amelia and her husband wanted the plane returned for further research and teaching. Now we have a real chance to do that.”
For now, the mission is an investigation rather than a recovery operation. Even if researchers identify aircraft wreckage, further permissions and work would be needed before any substantial remains could be brought back to the surface.
Nikumaroro's Giant Meat-Eating Robber Crabs
Nikumaroro is home to enormous coconut crabs, also known as robber crabs, which are among the world's largest land-dwelling arthropods. They are scavengers and omnivores, capable of feeding on a variety of plant and animal material.
Coconut crabs are known to scavenge carcasses, and their powerful claws allow them to break into food sources that other animals might struggle to access. The expedition team has even cited their size and nocturnal activity as reasons to sleep aboard its support vessel rather than on the island.
Their presence has raised questions about whether they could have consumed the remains of Earhart or Noonan if the pair died on the island. But there is no conclusive evidence to suggest that so far.
Human bones reportedly discovered on Nikumaroro in 1940 were examined by authorities at the time, but the remains were subsequently lost. Their identity has remained a subject of debate.
Some researchers have argued that the historical skeletal measurements may be consistent with Earhart, while others have emphasized the limitations of the available evidence. No definitive identification has been made.
Amelia Earhart's Distress Calls
Earhart's final radio transmissions remain among the most important pieces of evidence in the search for her missing aircraft.
On the morning of July 2, 1937, as she approached the area around Howland Island, Earhart struggled to establish reliable radio contact with the Itasca. The ship was attempting to guide her toward the island, but communication and navigation difficulties complicated the effort.
At approximately 7:42 a.m., according to the historical radio log, Earhart reported that she believed the aircraft was near the ship but that she could not see it. She also reported that fuel was running low and that she was flying at an altitude of about 1,000 feet.
The Itasca attempted to respond, but the aircraft did not appear to receive the ship's transmissions reliably.
Shortly before 8 a.m., Earhart reported circling and requested bearings. The crew continued trying to establish its position.
At approximately 8:43 a.m., the Itasca logged what is generally regarded as the final transmission it received from the aircraft. Earhart reported that the plane was on a navigational line described as 157–337 and running north and south.
The transmission did not provide a confirmed location, leaving rescuers without a clear indication of where the aircraft had gone.
A major search by the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard followed, but neither the aircraft nor its occupants were found.
The radio record has since become central to competing explanations of the disappearance. The conventional theory holds that Earhart and Noonan ran out of fuel and crashed into the ocean near Howland Island. Supporters of the Nikumaroro theory argue that the pair may have continued searching for land and eventually reached the atoll. The latest expedition could help resolve part of that debate if investigators establish that the Taraia Object is aircraft wreckage and can identify it as Earhart's Electra.
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here. Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Samantha Beech and Edward T. Cummins