Legend of Amelia Earhart's missing aircraft located, claims British pilot

In July 1937 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 being implemented, no trace has ever been found of the trailblazing female pilot or her plane.

Now, 88 years on, a British pilot is claiming to have tracked down the wreckage of the missing aircraft, while just last month another expert presented an intriguing alternative theory as to Earhart's whereabouts.

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 where Earhart crash-landed.

Using zoomed-in images sourced from Google Earth, Myers spotted a group of shapes he believes to be 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 Myers, Earhart and Noonan crashed on the east coast of Nikumaroro Island, a remote coral atoll in the Pacific Ocean.

Expedition call

The pilot is now calling for an expedition to the location to confirm his theories.

Captain Myers is not the first to suggest that Earhart and Noonan may have crashed near to Nikumaroro Island.

Earhart was supposed to have landed at Howland Island to refuel, some 400 miles (640km) to the north of the atoll.

However, low fuel and bad weather may have pushed the aircraft off course, leading to a forced attempted landing on the tiny Nikumaroro.

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.

Nikumaroro Island

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.'

Myers continued: '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 colored perfectly straight object.'

Surprisingly, the Google Earth measuring tool revealed the object to be 39 feet (12 meters), 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.'

Mysterious 'Taraia Object'

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.'

Myers continued: 'This finding could answer some questions to someone who disappeared many years ago.'

The pilot now says he would like to see an expedition launched to investigate the objects and confirm once and for all whether they are Earhart's plane.

However, he has had little luck in gaining support for his proposal.

Myers says he sent the information to the National Transportation Safety Board in the U.S., 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, Myers is 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.

The university's expedition is planned to embark from Majuro in the Marshall Islands on November 5 and will 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.'