A team of American scientists is travelling to Nikumaroro, a remote coral atoll in the South Pacific, to search again for the aircraft of aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart. NOS reports that the expedition is following up a satellite image from 2020 that may show the wreck of the plane she disappeared in, along with her navigator Fred Noonan, in 1937.
What happened
According to NOS, the expedition was due to arrive on Nikumaroro the day after the broadcaster published its report. Earhart, Noonan and their aircraft have been searched for on the island several times before, and none of those searches succeeded. The search gained new momentum six years ago, when a satellite photo appeared to show something that could be the wreck.
Joris Melkert, an aviation expert at TU Delft, told NOS that finding the plane would be a discovery comparable to finding the Titanic. “Then you have really scored,” he said. He called Earhart’s disappearance “one of the greatest mysteries in the history of aviation”.
NOS sets out the background. In 1937 Earhart and Noonan left Miami in their aircraft, an Electra, to fly around the world. They flew east, roughly following the equator, and the trip went well for most of its length, covering more ground than most flights of the era would attempt. They then took off from Papua New Guinea for the last stage: the crossing of the Pacific Ocean.
Their first stop was meant to be Howland Island, a flight of 20 hours. A US Coast Guard ship was waiting there to guide the Electra in with radio signals. Something went wrong. For reasons that remain unclear, Earhart and Noonan could not make proper contact or receive the directions. They did not find Howland Island and flew on.
The main theory: out of fuel
Melkert told NOS that he believes the plane ran out of fuel at some point and came down in the sea. That was also the conclusion of the US government’s investigation shortly after the disappearance, and of later researchers. On this view, the Electra crashed not far from Howland Island and sank to the ocean floor, several kilometres down.
The Nikumaroro theory
There are other theories. Earhart and Noonan may have searched for another place to land and ended up at Nikumaroro, which is uninhabited. Earlier investigations on the atoll produced nothing concrete, but the 2020 satellite image supported the idea that the flight ended there. NOS reports that researchers at Purdue University in the United States also found the same object on an aerial photograph of Nikumaroro taken in 1938.
Melkert remains sceptical. He pointed out that the atoll lies about 650 kilometres south of the island where Earhart was supposed to arrive, which he said makes a successful landing there less likely. He also noted that bones had been found on the island in the past, belonging to someone who could possibly have been a woman. “And then there is something just off the coast of that atoll that could be an aircraft,” he said. “So the thinking is: this might be it, so let’s go and take a look.”
Why it matters if you live in Netherlands
This story does not change anything in daily life in the Netherlands, and the source does not mention any exhibition, screening or event here linked to the search. Its local connection is the expertise. The main voice in the NOS coverage is Joris Melkert of TU Delft, one of the country’s leading technical universities, and his view is a useful counterweight to the excitement that tends to follow each new Earhart expedition.
For international readers who follow Dutch news, the story is also a good example of how NOS handles a global history story: it explains the background step by step and brings in a Dutch specialist to judge how likely a breakthrough really is. If you are learning Dutch, NOS’s coverage of stories like this is a manageable way to build vocabulary around history, science and aviation.
If you have children or teenagers interested in flight, exploration or unsolved mysteries, the expedition offers an easy entry point into a real historical puzzle. The core questions are simple: where did the plane go, and how can scientists test the theories?
What to watch next
The key question is whether the object near the coast of Nikumaroro turns out to be an aircraft at all, and if so, whether it can be linked to Earhart’s Electra. NOS does not say how long the expedition will stay on the atoll or when results are expected.
It is worth keeping Melkert’s caution in mind. He considers it more likely that the plane went down at sea near Howland Island, which matches the conclusion of the original US government investigation. A confirmed find on Nikumaroro would overturn that view. A negative result would add to a long list of searches on the island that have come back empty.
NOS is likely to report on any findings, and Dutch-language coverage may again include comment from experts such as Melkert at TU Delft. For anyone following the story from the Netherlands, NOS remains the most direct source.
Source: NOS Cultuur
Sources
- NOS Cultuur: Nieuwe zoektocht naar luchtvaartpionier Earhart op atol in Stille Zuidzee, accessed 12 October 2026
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