A team of U.S. researchers has arrived at a remote Pacific atoll hoping to solve a lingering mystery. They're looking for evidence that legendary aviator Amelia Earhart crash landed there in 1937.
The 17-person expedition was inspired by satellite images taken over several years showing a submerged object in the uninhabited island's sandy lagoon.
Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan vanished during their attempt to circumnavigate the globe at the equator. She had already made history as the first woman to complete a nonstop transatlantic flight.
Hawaiʻi also played a role in her achievements. In 1935, she flew from Oʻahu to Oakland — becoming the first person to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean.
The research team raised funds from Purdue University, which sponsored Earhart’s circumnavigation flight.
The Guardian reports the team said separate aerial footage suggests the sunken object has a metallic shine.
Locating the wreck of Earhart's Lockheed Model 10-E Electra would confirm a theory that Earhart and Noonan ditched at the atoll of Nikumaroro, part of the island nation of Kiribati, about halfway between Australia and Hawaiʻi.
They were en route to Howland Island, about 400 miles north of the atoll, when their plane ran low on fuel and disappeared.
The Purdue mission said the object may not have been found by previous expeditions, as it could have been covered with sand.
