An active scientific expedition is currently searching for Amelia Earhart's missing Lockheed Electra 10-E plane in the lagoon of Nikumaroro Island in Kiribati.
Purdue University & Archaeological Legacy Institute Lagoon Search (October 2026): A 17-person team arrived at Nikumaroro Island in Kiribati on October 13, 2026, to scan the lagoon depths for Earhart's submerged Lockheed Electra 10-E. The mission follows satellite imaging that spotted the mysterious "Taraia Object". Teams utilize tools like magnetometers to detect ferrous aircraft metals.
Current Expedition Details
- Organizers: The Archaeological Legacy Institute (ALI) and researchers from Purdue University.
- Timeline: The 17-member team arrived on the remote Pacific island in mid-October 2026 and has begun underwater surveys.
- The Target: The team is investigating the "Taraia Object," a mysterious shape visible in satellite and historical photos inside the island's lagoon that researchers suspect could be the wreckage of Earhart's plane.
- Obstacles: Field work has been complicated by harsh tropical weather, remote conditions, and swarms of aggressive coconut crabs and hermit crabs.
Historical Context
- Disappearance: Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan vanished on July 2, 1937, during their attempt to circumnavigate the globe.
- The Official Theory: The U.S. Navy concluded after a massive 1937 search that the plane ran out of fuel and crashed into the ocean.
- The Nikumaroro Hypothesis: An alternative theory proposes that Earhart and Noonan survived a crash-landing on the reef of Nikumaroro (an uninhabited atoll about 400 miles southeast of their intended destination, Howland Island) and lived as castaways.
Previous Expedition
- Dr. Robert Ballard’s Expedition (Expedition Amelia / Searching for Amelia Earhart): National Geographic Explorer-at-Large Dr. Robert Ballard led efforts focusing on Nikumaroro Island. This theory proposes that Earhart and Noonan landed the plane on a flat reef during low tide before it eventually slipped into the deep ocean.
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