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:

A November expedition, led by Richard Pettigrew of the Archaeological Legacy Institute with Purdue University's involvement, is launching to locate Amelia Earhart's lost Lockheed Electra 10-E.
The 15-person team will investigate the "Taraia Object," a suspected straight metallic piece of the aircraft's fuselage, in a lagoon off Nikumaroro island.
The search will employ scientific equipment like magnetometers, sonar, and sophisticated mapping technology, followed by underwater excavation using a hydraulic dredge.
A successful identification would provide "smoking-gun" proof of Earhart's final destination, with Purdue hoping to eventually recover the aircraft.

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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.