In July 1937, the legendary female aviator Amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, set out from Lae, New Guinea, never to be seen again.
Despite the most expensive sea and air search in American history up to that point, no trace has ever been found of Earhart or her plane.
Now, a British pilot thinks he has finally tracked down the wreckage of the missing aircraft, 88 years after it was lost.
Captain Justin Myers, who has almost 25 years of experience as a pilot, says he is ’99 per cent certain’ that he has found the exact location Earhart crash-landed.
Using zoomed-in images from Google Earth, Captain Myers spotted a group of shapes he believes are the fragments of the crashed plane.
What’s more, he claims these submerged objects match the exact dimensions of Earhart’s Lockheed Electra 10E.
According to Captain Myers, Earhart and Noonan crashed on the east coast of Nikumaroro Island, a remote coral atoll in the Pacific Ocean.
Captain Myers is now calling for an expedition to the location to confirm whether his theories are correct.
Captain Myers believes that he has found the parts of Amelia Earhart’s crashed plane in satellite images from Google Earth (pictured)
Captain Myers says that the shapes he spotted in the water by Nikumaroro Island match the dimensions of Earhart’s aircraft exactly
Amelia Earhart (pictured) and her navigator, Fred Noonan, disappeared in July 1937 after setting out from Lae, New Guinea, during an attempt to fly around the world
Captain Myers is not the first to suggest that Earhart and Noonan may have crashed around Nikumaroro Island.
Earhart was supposed to have landed at Howland Island to refuel, some 400 miles (640km) to the north.
However, low fuel and bad weather may have pushed their aircraft off course and forced an attempted landing on the tiny atoll.
Previous investigations have found artefacts including improvised tools, bits of clothing, and a piece of plexiglas that matches that of an Electra window.
For this reason, many people hunting for Earhart’s wreckage think the aviator may have landed somewhere near the island and made it to shore before succumbing to the elements.
What makes Captain Myers’ discovery different is that he claims to have found photographic evidence of the crashed aircraft through Google Earth.
In a blog post, Captain Myers says he became interested in Nikumaroro Island after watching a documentary about Earhart’s final flight.
He wrote: ‘Poor sleep, upper wind predictions not being accurate, probably fatigue and some anxiety would likely have played a part in the disappearance.
It is commonly believed that Earhart crashed her Lockheed Electra 10E off the coast of Nikumaroro Island (pictured) in the Pacific Ocean after running out of fuel
It is believed that Earhart was forced to crash land near Nikumaroro after running out of fuel. Earhart and Noonan probably made it ashore but later died on the island
Captain Justin Myers, a British pilot with almost 25 years of experience, is convinced that he has found the remains of Amelia Earhart’s crashed aircraft using nothing more than Google Earth images
‘As a pilot, I thought to myself, if I was in Amelia’s position trying to find a needle in a hay stack low on fuel and to be honest if we were in her position no doubt using some choice language, where would I force land my Lockheed Electra 10E?’
Settling on a long, sandy section on the island’s East coast, Captain Myers zoomed in to discover a ‘dark coloured perfectly straight object.’
Surprisingly, the Google Earth measuring tool revealed the object to be 39 feet (12 metres), the same length as the Lockheed Electra 10E.
Captain Myers wrote: ‘A day or so later I had another look, just like that Bang!! 110ft to the west of the metal section was what appeared to be a perfect half exposed radial engine measuring 4-4.5ft in diameter.
‘Just under the engine is a wheel, again half exposed, the wheel is perfect and is in absolute proportion in size; I was struggling to see this was anything other than the debris of a lost vintage aircraft that has been hidden away for years.’
Although Captain Myers says he can’t be completely sure this is Earhart and Noonan’s Electra, he is certain that it is a vintage plane of the same size.
He told Popular Science: ‘The bottom line is, from my interests from a child in vintage aircraft and air crash investigation, I can say that is what was once a 12-metre, 2-engine vintage aircraft. What I can’t say is that is definitely Amelia’s Electra.
‘If this is not Amelia’s Electra 10 E, then it’s the answer to another mystery that has never been answered.
Captain Myers is calling for an expedition to investigate his claims and settle whether this really is Earhart’s aircraft. However, he has not received any support for his theory
‘This finding could answer some questions to someone who disappeared many years ago.’
Captain Myers says he would like to see an expedition launched to investigate the objects and confirm once and for all whether this is Earhart’s plane.
However, he has had little luck getting support for his proposal.
Captain Myers says he sent the information to the National Transportation Safety Board in the US, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, and the air crash investigation team in Brisbane.
He also tried to contact Purdue University with the information to see if any historians would be interested in launching an investigation.
Despite reaching out over three years ago, Captain Myers has yet to hear anything back in response.
Purdue University’s reluctance is likely linked to the fact that the university already has its own plans to search for Earhart’s wreckage.
Last month, researchers announced the launch of an expedition to investigate the so-called ‘Taraia Object’, a visual anomaly inside the Nikumaroro lagoon widely believed to be the downed Electra.
Last month, Purdue University announced a mission to investigate a different site on Nikumaroro Island known as the Taraia Object. Their mission will launch in November this year, and spend five days investigating the Taraia Object
Read More
Sonar image thought to be wreckage of Amelia Earhart’s missing plane turns out to be bunch of rocks
The expedition is planned to embark from Majuro in the Marshall Islands on November 5 and spend five days on Nikumaroro inspecting the Taraia Object.
If the initial expedition proves successful in confirming the identity of the aircraft, the researchers plan to return for larger excavation efforts in 2026 to uncover and help return what remains of Earhart’s plane.
In a statement at the time, Richard Pettigrew, director of the Archaeological Legacy Institute, said: ‘What we have here is maybe the greatest opportunity ever to finally close the case.
‘With such a great amount of very strong evidence, we feel we have no choice but to move forward and hopefully return with proof.’
WHAT ARE THE THEORIES ON AMELIA EARHART’S FINAL DAYS?
Theory One: Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan crash into the Pacific a few miles short of their intended destination due to visibility and gas problems, and die instantly.
Theory Two: Earhart and Noonan crash land on the island of Nikumaroro, where they later die at the hands of coconut crabs, which hunt for food at night and grow up to three-feet long. The name comes from their ability to opened the hardened shells of coconuts.
Theory Three: Earhart and Noonan veer drastically off course and crash land near the Mili Atoll in the Marshall Islands. They are rescued but soon taken as prisoners of war by the Japanese and sent to a camp in Saipan. Noonan is beheaded and Earhart dies in 1939 from malaria or dysentery.
Theory Four: Earhart and Noonan make it to Howland Island as planned and are eaten by cannibals.
Theory Five: Earhart was an American spy sent to gather information on the Japanese ahead of World War II.
Theory Six: Earhart and Noonan are unable to locate Howland Island, and head toward their ‘contingency plan’. After a ten hour journey back toward the location they came from, they crash in the jungle of East New Britain Island, in what is now known as Papua New Guinea.
There are several conflicting theories about Earhart’s disappearance. The alleged details of Earhart’s final flight, and where she is believed to have ended up based on different theories over the years