Long-lost plane of Amelia Earhart 'finally discovered in lagoon'

By Matt Jackson, Content Editor

Amelia Earhart went missing in 1937 (Image: UIG via Getty Images)

The long-lost Electra 10E plane of Amelia Earhart, the famed aviator, may have been found at last, with researchers claiming they have "very strong" evidence that it lies in a lagoon. Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan were attempting a global flight when they vanished without a trace in 1937.

They embarked on their journey from Lae Airfield in Papua New Guinea at 10am local time on 2 July, planning for a 20-hour flight to Howland Island in the central Pacific Ocean. Around 3pm, Earhart reported that she would need to lower her altitude due to dense cloud cover. By approximately 7am the next day, it was reported that her aircraft had about half a tank of fuel left.

Amelia was attempting to fly around the world (Image: Popperfoto/Getty Images)

However, they never reached Howland Island and their plane was never found. US investigators theorise that the aircraft likely ran out of fuel and plummeted into the ocean.

It is believed that Earhart and Noonan perished either in the crash or shortly thereafter. Now, scholars from Purdue University are preparing to journey to an island in the South Pacific after identifying a "visual anomaly" they believe could be the wreckage of the plane.

They assert they have "strong evidence" that the aircraft is Earhart's legendary plane. This development follows the recent announcement by US President Donald Trump that all files related to Earhart will be declassified.

On his Truth Social platform, he wrote: "Amelia made it almost three quarters around the World before she suddenly, and without notice, vanished, never to be seen again. Her disappearance, almost 90 years ago, has captivated millions."

Earhart's plane has never been discovered (Image: Getty Images)

In 2020, an "anomaly" was spotted in a lagoon on Nikumaroro, a small island in Kiribati, located halfway between Australia and Hawaii, about 400 miles southeast of Howland Island.

This underwater object has been visible in photographs dating back to 1938, just one year after the disappearance of Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan.

A team from the Purdue Research Foundation is set to embark on a journey to the lagoon this November, where they will capture images and videos before retrieving the item from the water.

Amelia Earhart (Image: undefined)

Richard Pettigrew, executive director of the Archaeological Legacy Institute, who will be part of the expedition, stated: "Finding Amelia Earhart's Electra aircraft would be the discovery of a lifetime."

He added: "Other evidence already collected by The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery establishes an extremely persuasive, multifaceted case that the final destination for Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, was on Nikumaroro. Confirming the plane wreckage there would be the smoking-gun proof."

However, Ric Gillespie from the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery reportedly found "nothing's there" when he examined the lagoon, according to CBS.

Despite this, Purdue University remains hopeful that it can bring Earhart's plane back to the academic institution where she once worked.

Steve Schultz, senior vice president at the university, commented: "A successful identification would be the first step toward fulfilling Amelia's original plan to return the Electra to West Lafayette after her historic flight.

"Additional work would still be needed to accomplish that objective, but we feel we owe it to her legacy, which remains so strong at Purdue, to try to find a way to bring it home."