Search for Amelia Earhart's plane resumes after weather delay

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 19 Oct, 04:19 · Archive

A team searching for aviator Amelia Earhart's wreckage on a Pacific island has resumed operations after three days of bad weather.

A team of researchers has resumed the search for Amelia Earhart's plane on Nikumaroro Island, part of Kiribati in the Pacific Ocean, after bad weather forced a three-day suspension. Rough seas and strong winds powered by El Niño conditions had kept the crew aboard their research vessel, the Marin Mainiku, since they arrived at the uninhabited atoll last week. On Sunday, conditions cleared enough for them to return to the island.

The expedition is investigating the so-called Taraia Object, a submerged feature first identified in aerial photographs of the atoll's lagoon. Sirisha Bandla, a technology specialist with the expedition, said in a video update: "We are finally getting off the ship and able to land on Nikumaroro. The crew's really excited."

Earhart, then 39, disappeared on 2 July 1937 while piloting her twin-engine Lockheed Electra on an attempt to become the first woman to fly around the world. She had already crossed South America, Africa and Asia before departing from Lae, Papua New Guinea, bound for Howland Island. Radio contact was lost the following day after she reported fuel was running low, sparking the largest search for a missing aircraft the US government had ever mounted at that time.

How it is being reported

• Search for Amelia Earhart's missing plane resumes after bad weather suspends discovery missionThe hunt for Amelia Earhart's lost aircraft has resumed on a remote Pacific atoll after bad weather halted operations for three days. A team of researchers on Nikumaroro Island, part of the Republic of Kiribati, is examining a submerged feature known as the Taraia Object, first identified in aerial photographs of the atoll's lagoon. Sirisha Bandla, a technology specialist on the expedition, in a video recorded aboard the research vessel Marin Mainiku, said: "We are finally getting off the ship and able to land on Nikumaroro." Rough seas and powerful winds driven by strong El Niño conditions…GB News · 19 Oct, 04:00
• Search for Amelia Earhart's plane resumes after stormy weatherAn expedition to a remote Pacific island hoping to uncover the American aviator's wreckage was on hold for three days.BBC World · 18 Oct, 14:47

In this story: Amelia Earhart · Sirisha Bandla · Nikumaroro Island · Kiribati · Papua New Guinea

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem