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Amelia Earhart expedition heads to South Pacific in search of aviator’s missing plane

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FOX Local
U.S.
Published October 10, 2026 9:04 PM CDT
Published October 10, 2026 9:04 PM CDT
article

Amelia Earhart smiles as she sits clad in a leather aviator's jacket in the cockpit of a small airplane. One of the world's most famous aviators, Earhart was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean in 1932. While attempting to fly aroun

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The Brief

    • A U.S. marine archaeology team is traveling to the remote Pacific island of Nikumaroro to investigate the "Taraia Object," an underwater anomaly first detected by satellite six years ago.
    • Researchers suspect the submerged object in the island's lagoon may be the wreckage of Amelia Earhart's Lockheed Electra 10-E plane, which disappeared with navigator Fred Noonan in 1937 during her attempt to fly around the world.
    • Following delays in securing government permits from Kiribati, the team aims to verify the anomaly's identity and, if confirmed as Earhart's aircraft, return next year to conduct a full-scale archaeological excavation.

A U.S. team of marine archeologists are hoping a submerged object a satellite detected six years ago roughly halfway between Australia and Hawaii is the plane of Amelia Earhart.

Big picture view:

The Taraia Object Expedition, led by the Archaeological Legacy Institute and backed by Purdue University, is expected to arrive Tuesday at the uninhabited island of Nikumaroro in the remote Phoenix Islands, which is part of the nation of the Kiribati Republic. There, they will search for an anomaly detected by satellite in the island’s lagoon. 

Dubbed the Taraia Object, it has been the subject of speculation that it is the wreckage of Earhart’s twin-engine Lockheed Electra 10-E airplane, last seen 89 years ago. 

The upcoming expedition was announced last year but getting approval from the government of Kiribati delayed the expedition’s start.

The backstory:

The famed aviator was 39 years old when she vanished on July 2, 1937, while attempting to become the first female pilot to fly around the world. Earhart, along with navigator Fred Noonan, lost contact during one of the final legs of their journey. They went missing after they left Lae, New Guinea, bound for Howland Island in the Pacific.

Those who believe that Earhart’s plane went down near Nikumaroro believe that Earhart and Noonan became stranded on the remote island and possibly died as castaways. 

The story of Earhart's disappearance has captivated Americans for decades and has been the subject of ongoing research.

Last year, the National Archives released over 4,600 pages of previously unsealed government records related to Earhart's 1937 disappearance, including her final known radio transmissions.

What they're saying:

"Finding Amelia Earhart's Electra aircraft would be the discovery of a lifetime," Richard Pettigrew, head of the Archaeological ​Legacy Institute in Eugene, Oregon, who is leading the effort in conjunction with Purdue, said in press materials for the mission obtained by Reuters.

If researchers confirm the Taraia Object is Earhart's airplane, they hope to conduct a full-scale archaeological excavation next year with the proper permissions, Purdue spokesperson Trevor Peters told Fox News Digital in August.

The ultimate goal would be to return the plane to Purdue to be displayed, which Peters said is consistent with Earhart’s original wishes.

The Source: Information in this article came from Reuters and previous FOX News reporting. This story was reported from Orlando.


 

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