![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]](https://flyingmag1.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/10/Pettigrew572-Large-e1761322668507.jpeg?width=930&height=892)
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.
The 15-person expedition will include representatives from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. In the 1930s Earhart taught at Purdue and served as a consultant to the department of aeronautics.
The Purdue Research Foundation funded the acquisition of the Lockheed Electra, dubbed the “Flying Laboratory,” that Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, were flying when they disappeared on July 2, 1937. A residence hall on the Purdue campus and a terminal at Purdue University Airport (KLAF) bear her name.
The expedition will be looking for what appears to be a straight metallic object—known as the Taraia Object—in the lagoon on the north side of the island of Nikumaroro. Pettigrew has spent years acquiring and analyzing video and still imagery shot from satellites and drones and believes the object may be part of Earhart’s airplane. The Taraia Object, has shown up in images as reflective and straight, leading Pettigrew to speculate that it is part of the fuselage of the aircraft and not a tree in the water.
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“Finding Amelia Earhart’s Electra aircraft would be the discovery of a lifetime,” Pettigrew said in an article on the Purdue website. “Other evidence already collected by the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) establishes an extremely persuasive, multifaceted case that the final destination for Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, was on Nikumaroro. Confirming the plane wreckage would be the smoking-gun proof.”
The first part of the expedition takes the team to Majuro in the Marshall Islands. It will then sail for Nikumaroro on November 4. The ship journey from Majuro to Nikumaroro is 1,200 nm.
![Fourteen of the 15-member expedition team poses for a photo, with team leader Richard Pettigrew seated in front on a bench next to a statue of Amelia Earhart. [Courtesy: Ted Huetter/Museum of Flight]](https://flyingmag1.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/10/Team-Purdue619-Large.jpeg?width=1024&height=664)
The team will spend several days on the island using scientific equipment, including magnetometers and sonar, and sophisticated mapping technology to search. Then it will employ underwater excavation using a hydraulic dredge to expose the object for identification. Field work will include a walk-over survey of nearby land surfaces to look for debris washed up by waves.
The expedition includes three representatives from Purdue—Sirisha Bandla and Marc Hagle, both alumni and members of Purdue’s “Cradle of Astronauts,” and Steve Schultz, senior vice president and general counsel.
“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.”
Preparations
In September, several members of the expedition visited the Museum of Flight in Seattle to get a closer look at its 1935 Lockheed 10-E Electra, which is identical to the one flown by Earhart.
The museum took delivery of the aircraft in 2013. It was built for Northwest Airlines in 1935 and was at the time configured for passenger service as a Lockheed Model 10-A Electra. During World War II it was used as a military transport. After the war it was sold, changing hands many times until the 1990s, when aviatrix Linda Finch restored it to match the specifications of Earhart’s plane.
In 1997, on the 60th anniversary of Earhart’s last flight, Finch flew the airplane around the world, following the legendary aviator’s course as best she could given the geopolitical climate at the time. When passing over Howland Island, Earhart’s last known location, Finch dropped a wreath in memory of Earhart and Noonan.
The close-up interaction with the Museum of Flight’s airplane was needed to give the team a chance to become more familiar with the design, according to Ted Huetter, public relations director for the museum. Under the watchful eye of museum staff, the expedition crew was able to even crawl inside the airplane.
“The team got to take a good look at the Lockheed Electra 10-A so they will be better prepared to spot the possible wreckage,” said Huetter, noting that it’s likely that if found the wreckage will be in small pieces, so being familiar with the rivet patterns and smaller components of the aircraft will be beneficial.
“They got familiar with the aircraft in a tactile way. The meeting was also a chance for the researchers and the students going on the mission to be brought up to speed.”
The expedition members are scheduled to return to port in Majuro around November 21 and fly home the following day.
