Members of a new expedition on their way to an island in the South Pacific are optimistic they鈥檙e finally going to solve the mysterious disappearance of legendary pilot Amelia Earhart.
Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan disappeared July 2, 1937 after leaving Papua New Guinea for Howland Island while attempting to circumnavigate the world in a Lockheed Electra aircraft.
Planes and ships were launched in an exhaustive search in the South Pacific for Earhart and Noonan, but no trace of them or the aircraft was ever found.
The $2-million expedition by The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) left Hawaii this week armed with new evidence, including a survey photo taken in 1937 that may show an aircraft鈥檚 landing gear in the water near an island where bones were found decades ago.
One member of the expedition鈥檚 advisory team said that while there have been many visits to the island - Nikumaroro, formerly known as Gardner Island - this time they鈥檙e better equipped and possess solid information.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a bigger ship with equipment that can go deeper, has better lights . . . we have an autonomous vehicle that will map the search area first, then a remotely operated vehicle that can look specifically at points of interest,鈥� Martin Moleski told CTV鈥檚 Canada AM in an interview Thursday from Buffalo, N.Y.
Moleski became involved with TIGHAR in 2000, joining an expedition in 2003 looking for the lost bones in New Zealand鈥檚 archives, and now manages its website.
One item that鈥檚 garnered particular interest on this expedition is a jar found on the island near a campfire, along with various animal and fish bones, parts of a woman鈥檚 compact and pieces of rouge, he said.
鈥淲e think this is where a castaway died on Gardner Island before 1940,鈥� Moleski said.
鈥淭IGHAR thinks they鈥檝e found the site where the skeleton was found and this jar could be wrinkle cream, or some other kind of beauty cream,鈥� he said.
The jar pieces appear to be the right age and it鈥檚 commonly known Earhart was embarrassed by her freckles and may have carried a cream on the journey.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not the right coloured glass, it鈥檚 transparent and the freckle cream came in opaque white jars, so it鈥檚 not a perfect match,鈥� Moleski said.
鈥淏ut it鈥檚 suggestive of an American woman at this site on the island where somebody died.鈥�
As well, there鈥檚 evidence the animal and shellfish were not consumed by natives of the region.
鈥淭he person who killed and ate these birds left the heads (natives would have eaten them), the clam shells were opened by an amateur . . . the natives would have dug the meat out of the clam while they were in the water,鈥� Moleski said.
Finding the aircraft
It鈥檚 possible the aircraft could have slipped off a reef near the island and sank to about 1,000 metres, leaving the landing gear on the edge, which could be what鈥檚 visible in the survey photo, he said.
Storm surges and currents may have reduced the wreckage to mere 鈥渁luminum dust鈥� at the ocean鈥檚 bottom, but the team remains optimistic about its chances of finding it.
鈥淲e鈥檇 like to find great big pieces of the wing, the spar, the landing gear, the engines,鈥� Moleski said.
The latest search takes place the same week Earhart disappeared 75 years ago, and it remains an enduring aviation mystery.
