In 1937, Amelia Earhart took off to go around the world. 88 years later, an expedition will look for it again

All segments have outstanding figures, but few can say that they are pioneers. Amelia Earhart is one of those pioneers That, with his adventures, he contributed to the normalization of women in the air. A few years before, Amy Johnson opened its way to traveling 15,000 kilometers On an epic trip between England and Oceania, but it was Earhart who set out to be the first woman to circumnavigate the earth. On July 2, 1937, he last took off with his partner and disappeared in one of the greatest mysteries in aviation.

88 years later, there are those who do not resign and continue looking for it. And a new adventure will leave next November.

Pioneer. Born in 1897, Earhart was an example of overcoming for women. It was the First woman in making two transatlantic flights: one as a passenger and another, in 1932, alone. Got Several records Distance and speed for pilot women, and not only dedicated himself to venturing in the air: he actively fought for the inclusion of women in the sector.

As? Apart from with his actions in the air, he helped to found The Ninely-Ninesan association for pilot women and, in 1937, he set out to reach much further. It was one of the most ambitious circumnavigation attempts and, for the popularity of Amelia, more documented in history.

The plan. The idea was to circumnavigate the globe through the longest possible route. It was not go around the world And no, no: it had to be done for Ecuador, on a trip of about 47,000 kilometers. This would not only establish records, but would generate enormous interest for a later book. The starting point was Oakland, California, and the chosen sense was this.

The University of Purdue, where it was a iconfinanced the expedition. The plane was a Lockheed Electra 10-E Modified with extra tanks for fuel and the occasional adjustment. Thus, on May 21, 1937, the trip began, and The route documented was the following:

“Keep in mind that I am very aware of the dangers. I want to do it because I want to do it. Women should try to do things like men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be just a challenge for others.” – A letter written By Amelia before the last flight

Mystery. When only two stages were missing to close the successful trip, Earhart and his companion, Frederick J. Noonan, took off from New Guinea to Howland Island. After that journey, only Hawland to Hawaii would remain and, finally, back to Oakland. Although much of the road had already been completed, what they had left was extremely complicated both by the route and the supply. Howland is an extremely small island, in the middle of the ocean and very close to the autonomy limit of any plane of the time. The idea was to stop, repost and continue.

Between Lae and Howland there are about 4,100 kilometers and undertook the way on July 2, 1937. In their last radio communication, Earhart indicated that they were close to destination, but they could not confirm the visual of the island. And, after that moment, Earhart, Noonan and the Lockheed vanished. That last communication occurred near the limit of autonomy of the plane, so if they had not reached Howland and had not set contact again, it was assumed that they had suffered an accident.

Next, a rescue team departed in their search, but they found absolutely nothing and the search was abandoned on July 18. Even with current media we have been Witnesses how complicated it is to find a plane that disappears in the middle of the ocean.

Conspiracy. At the time they handled two theories. One, who ran out of fuel and crashed in the middle of the ocean before reaching the island. It is an extremely complex zone because, as we say, Howland is in the middle of nowhere and the ocean has a great depth in that sector, so the search is very complex. The other, which managed to land the plane on some islands about 560 kilometers from the target, but without conclusive evidence.

As usually happens, that someone so media vanished that way triggered a series of theoriesto each one more Fourted. One, who landed in the Marianas, of Japanese control, and were executed. Another, which Amelia completed the challenge, but that upon arrival in the United States, he adopted another personality to have a low profile and not deal with his tremendous fame. And, prepare, another theory that points that Amelia was’Tokyo Rose‘, The Japanese propaganda reader who exercised psychological war in the Pacific Front in World War II.

New expedition. Three years later, in 1940, a British expedition landed on the Nikumaroro Islands and discovered recent bones, something weird in a practically uninhabited archipelago. A voice rose pointing out that Earhart could be, but They ended Being Men’s Bones (although also There are those who point That thanks to length analysis, they were those of Earhart with 99% security). In whatever, not everyone is satisfied, and there are those who, as we read in NBC Newshe tries to find, definitely, to his heroine: the University of Purdue.

“We believe that we owe Amelia and her legacy in Purdue fulfill her desire to, if possible, bring Electra back to purdue,” commented A few days ago Steve Schultz, general advisor of the University. Satellite images taken recently after a tropical typhoon that displaced sand from a small Pacific island, showed a silhouette that, according to some researchers, “meets all the criteria” to be part of the fuselage of the explorer’s plane. They took those images to Purdue and, relying on it and previous tracks, began to finance an expedition.

And, on July 2 of this year, just 88 years after the disappearance, from Purdue They affirmed that in November of this 2025 they will begin a new five -day expedition in which they will investigate that object that is seen in the satellite images. “If we can solve the mystery and confirm that it is the plane, we will put our tools in progress to bring it back, hope that to a permanent home,” said Schultz. Not all They are so confident and there are those who point out that they will not find anything and that even the object is a Cocotero treebut … we will have to wait for November to see what happens.

Images | Purdue Research FoundationArcheology Channel, Hellerick, Purdue

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