Search for Amelia Earhart's plane ends empty on remote Pacific island
A search team found the mysterious object on Nikumaroro Island was just trees, not Amelia Earhart's plane.
Searchers went to remote Nikumaroro Island in Kiribati to investigate an odd shape in photos taken from above in 2020, hoping it might be parts of Amelia Earhart's plane. The Archaeological Legacy Institute and Purdue University led the team.
The object was most likely large trees. By the time they arrived, any debris had broken apart and washed away.
Earhart disappeared over the Pacific in 1937 during a flight around the world. Her plane was a twin-engine Lockheed Electra.
Her navigator was Fred Noonan. The pair were flying from Lae to Howland Island when they disappeared.
Most historians think the 39-year-old pilot crashed into the sea. Nikumaroro Island is about 640 kilometres southeast of Howland.
It sits midway between Australia and Hawaii.
- 39 years old
- Earhart's age at disappearance
- 1937
- Year of disappearance
- Twin-engine Lockheed Electra
- Aircraft type
- Nikumaroro Island, Kiribati
- Search location
Why it mattersAmelia Earhart remains one of history's greatest mysteries. Each search offers hope of solving what happened to this pilot 90 years later.
AustraliaDarwin was Earhart's only mainland Australian stop four days before she vanished, connecting Australia to one of aviation's enduring unsolved disappearances.
✓ Claims checked against the source. checked 3 h ago
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