A research team departed from Kiribati's capital on Wednesday and is expected to arrive at the suspected wreck site of Amelia Earhart's plane by Monday. The group, consisting of members from the US-based Archaeological Legacy Institute (ALI) and Purdue University, aims to investigate what is referred to as the Taraia Object, first identified in satellite imagery in 2020. Purdue University confirmed that the object was visible in aerial photographs dating back to 1938.
The team is currently halfway through their 830-mile journey to Nikumaroro Island in the Pacific Ocean aboard the Marin Mainiku, a vessel from the Kiribati National Shipping Line. Upon arrival, they will navigate through a narrow gap in the atoll's reef, created by the British in 1963, the last time the island was inhabited.
Richard Pettigrew, head of ALI and the expedition lead, stated, "Finding Amelia Earhart's Electra aircraft would be the discovery of a lifetime." Earhart disappeared in 1937 while attempting to circumnavigate the globe, with her last known flight taking her towards Howland Island for refueling. The official explanation suggests that communication problems led to her crashing into the ocean after running out of fuel.
Theories regarding her disappearance range from a crash due to fuel exhaustion to the possibility that she landed on Nikumaroro and died as a castaway. Images of the Taraia Object suggest it may be remnants of a small aircraft in shallow waters, though some experts, including Ric Gillespie, express skepticism about its identification as Earhart's plane. Gillespie noted that the object resembles a fallen tree rather than an aircraft.
The researchers acknowledge Gillespie's previous work in uncovering evidence of human presence on the atoll in the 1930s and forensic analysis of skeletal remains found there in the 1940s, which they believe supports their theory. However, Gillespie contends that Earhart's plane likely disintegrated and its fragments were lost to the depths of the Pacific.
Previous searches for Earhart's Electra have been unsuccessful. In 2024, researchers claimed to have located it at a depth of approximately 4,877 meters (16,000 feet) near Howland Island, but this was later identified as a rock formation. An expedition in 2019, led by the marine archaeologist who discovered the Titanic wreck, also failed to find evidence of the aircraft near Nikumaroro.