Search team searching for Amelia Earhart’s plane arrives on remote South Pacific island

Earhart is believed to have crashed, but a week-long search by the U.S. government at the time found no trace of the plane. Nearly a century later, the disappearance of the historic female aviator remains one of the world’s greatest mysteries.

Nikumaroro Island is very close to where Earhart was at the time of her last radio transmissions. It is an uninhabited island which is part of the Phoenix Islands belonging to the Republic of Kiribati.

Some artifacts have been found on the island that indicate Earhart and Noonan’s plane may have landed there, including glass bottles from the 1930s and a women’s makeup compact.

According to Purdue University, it will take the crew at least three weeks between traveling and searching the island before returning home.

The project is a “huge logistical feat,” according to Steve Schultz, senior vice president and general counsel at Purdue University. He is one of three members of Purdue’s crew and noted last week that moving more than a dozen people with large amounts of equipment had become its own obstacle.

“Even if you think you’ve done enough planning and preparation, everything has to fall into place once you’re underway,” he said. “What’s amazing is that there has been a series of small victories.”

Now that they have reached Nikumaroro, they will have to make their way through dense vegetation as they head towards the lagoon, then attempt to identify the object as Earhart’s lost Lockheed Electra 10E. The journey is further complicated by the presence of very large crabs which inhabit the island, preventing the crew from camping on dry land. Every night, the crew members will have to return to their boat and sleep in pods below deck.

The expedition is led by Richard Pettigrew, executive director of the Archaeological Legacy Institute. He said in a statement before the team embarked on the journey that the project comes with “a set of strong feelings.”

“I feel really lucky to be able to possibly solve one of the greatest mysteries of all time, whether it happens or not,” Pettigrew said.

If the crew eventually finds Earhart’s plane, the Purdue University Research Foundation hopes to raise money to search the plane and bring it back to Indiana.