Earhart Expedition Prepares for South Pacific Search

Team will use advanced technology in November quest for legendary aviator’s lost Lockheed Electra 10-E.

Meg Godlewski

Friday, October 24, 2025 at 12:18 PM ET

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Edited By:

Travis Tingle

Richard Pettigrew, executive director of the Archaeological Legacy Institute (ALI), sits in the cockpit of a Lockheed Electra similar to the one flown by Amelia Earhart at the Museum of Flight in Seattle. [Courtesy: Ted Huetter/Museum of Flight]

Key Takeaways:

An expedition led by Richard Pettigrew of the Archaeological Legacy Institute is launching in November to Nikumaroro in the South Pacific, seeking Amelia Earhart's lost Lockheed Electra 10-E.
The team will investigate the "Taraia Object," a straight metallic object in a lagoon believed to be part of the aircraft's fuselage, utilizing scientific equipment and underwater excavation.
Purdue University, where Earhart taught and which funded her original plane, is a key partner in the expedition, with alumni participating and a goal to return the Electra to West Lafayette if found.
Expedition members have prepared by studying an identical Lockheed Electra 10-E to aid in identifying potential wreckage, aiming for "smoking-gun proof" of Earhart's final destination.

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Preparations are in the final stages for the latest expedition to the South Pacific to gain a closer look at what may be the Lockheed Electra 10-E flown by Amelia Earhart during her round-the-world flight attempt in 1937.

The expedition, which launches in November, is being led by Richard Pettigrew, executive director of the Archaeological Legacy Institute (ALI) in Eugene, Oregon. ALI is an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to archaeological research and education.