LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University and the Purdue Research Foundation will join a three-week expedition to the South Pacific next month, searching for evidence of Amelia Earhart's missing aircraft in a lagoon near Nikumaroro Island.
The Archaeological Legacy Institute expedition, announced July 2 on the 88th anniversary of Earhart's disappearance, aims to investigate a visual anomaly in the island's lagoon that could be Earhart's missing Lockheed Electra 10E aircraft.
Three Purdue representatives will join the 15-person crew: alumni Sirisha Bandla and Marc Hagle, both members of Purdue's Cradle of Astronauts, along with Steve Schultz, senior vice president and general counsel.
Some expedition members will depart from the Amelia Earhart Terminal at Purdue University Airport on Oct. 30, meeting other team members in Majuro in the Marshall Islands. The full expedition will leave Majuro by sea Nov. 4, sailing approximately 1,200 nautical miles to Nikumaroro for several days of searching.
The team will focus on inspecting the Taraia Object, first spotted in satellite imagery in 2020 but visible in aerial photos of the island's lagoon dating back to 1938.
Officials say the plane was entirely made of aluminum with a few iron and steel parts. They say other aluminum aircraft have been submerged in salt water and remained intact. They also worry that the item could be covered in sediment.
Initial work will include capturing videos and still images before any disturbance, followed by remote sensing with magnetometers and sonar. The team will then use underwater excavation with a hydraulic dredge to expose the object for identification. Fieldwork will include surveying nearby land surfaces for debris washed up by waves.
Richard Pettigrew, executive director of Archaeological Legacy Institute and expedition team member, said the mission offers more than solving one of the 20th century's greatest mysteries.
"Finding Amelia Earhart's Electra aircraft would be the discovery of a lifetime," Pettigrew said. "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."
Purdue Research Foundation originally funded Earhart's "Flying Laboratory" Lockheed Electra 10E airplane through the Amelia Earhart Fund for Aeronautical Research as part of Purdue's pioneering aviation efforts.
"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," Schultz said. "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."
On Sept. 26, the expedition team gathered at Seattle's Museum of Flight to photograph and view a Lockheed Electra 10E identical to Earhart's aircraft. Several Purdue students joined to share insights on Purdue's aviation legacy and Earhart's connection to the university.
While the team was in Seattle last week, President Trump posted on social media calling for the release of any classified documents related to Earhart’s disappearance. Purdue officials say they aren’t aware of any documents that haven’t been released. They went on to say they are appreciative of the President’s interest in the case.
Earhart began her attempt to circumnavigate the globe in late May 1937, flying from Oakland, California. She came to Purdue in 1935 and worked for two years as a women's career counselor and advisor in the university's aeronautics department.
"This Is Purdue," the university's official podcast, will release a four-part miniseries called "Finding Amelia" on Oct. 20. The series explores the decades-long connection between the legendary aviator and Purdue, covering Earhart's journey to the university, the "Flying Laboratory" plane, the Amelia Earhart Collection within Purdue University Archives and Special Collections, and the upcoming expedition.
Nikumaroro is located halfway between Australia and Hawaii, approximately 400 miles southeast of Howland Island, Earhart and Noonan's planned destination on the third-to-last leg of their 1937 circumnavigation attempt. During a press conference, Bandla pointed out that traveling to space is quicker than the trip to Nikumaroro.
"Purdue has never been shy to take compelling ideas off paper; in fact, they encourage it," Bandla said. "I cannot express how meaningful it is to be a part of this expedition. Not only are we working to solve one of aviation's greatest mysteries, but it is centered around a trailblazing woman who dared to blaze her own path, to take the first step, so that other women were inspired to take flight as well."
The expedition is scheduled to return to port in Majuro around Nov. 21 and fly home the following day.
Officials say they will be provide daily updates on the university’s social media pages beginning Nov. 3.
