Purdue research team finds no plane wreckage at Nikumaroro Island

Researchers from Purdue University have completed an expedition to a remote Pacific island, looking for Amelia Earhart's lost plane. The team arrived at Nikumaroro Island in October 2026 after five days at sea. They went to examine an object spotted in satellite images in 2020, which some people believed could be Earhart's aircraft. Team leader Rick Pettigrew had thought the shape in the images was the wreckage. However, the team found that the object was actually a group of large trees lying on a sandy strip of land. Much of the material had already broken apart and washed away. Purdue University confirmed that no clear evidence of any aircraft was found. Earhart disappeared in 1937 during her attempt to fly around the world.