16-Person Team to Dredge Nikumaroro Lagoon for Earhart Plane After 1-Year Delay
Updated
Updated · currently.att.yahoo.com · Aug 12
16-Person Team to Dredge Nikumaroro Lagoon for Earhart Plane After 1-Year Delay
3 articles · Updated · currently.att.yahoo.com · Aug 12
Summary
October will bring a 16-person expedition to Nikumaroro, where researchers plan to dredge a lagoon anomaly called the Taraia object to test whether it is Amelia Earhart’s Lockheed Electra 10E.
The mission moved back a year from October 2025 after bad weather and delayed clearance from Kiribati; new cabinet approvals now allow the team to reach the remote island by ship.
Richard Pettigrew said crews will strip sediment with a hydraulic dredge and look for major aircraft sections and Electra-specific rivets rather than assume the object is the plane.
The search targets a theory that Earhart and Fred Noonan landed on Nikumaroro in 1937, but Smithsonian-linked experts and other researchers remain skeptical after many costly searches, including a 2024 deep-sea lead that proved to be rock.
If the object is confirmed as the aircraft, Purdue and its partners plan a 2027 full excavation and are discussing custody of any wreckage with Kiribati, with Purdue aiming to display it permanently.