(KAIR)--A group of researchers believe they have positively identified a fragment from the plane last flown by famed aviator and Atchison native Amelia Earhart.
New research conducted by The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, or TIGHAR, shows that the aluminum piece does in fact belong to the plane Earhart was flying when she disappeared in July 1937.
According to TIGHAR Executive Director Rick Gillespie, the group found the fragment in 1991 near an island in the Southwestern Pacific Ocean. He says they “always suspected that it was part of her airplane, we just could not pin it down. We could not find the place on her plane where it fit, and it was very frustrating. We worked with the National Transportation Safety Board, the Air Force Museum Restoration Shop...everybody we could think of.
Gillespie says the breakthrough came recently when they realized that there was one part of her plane that was unique and not built by the manufacturer. It turns out that the fragment was a patch that was put over a hole where there was a special, custom designed window Amelia had placed there. Gillespie says that “when she was in Miami, before he second attempt to fly around the world...for some reason, nobody knows why, she had this special window removed, and this simple aluminum patch fabricated and put over the hole.
Further evidence was revealed when researchers started to look at photographs that showed the patch. When they examined the photos in detail, they saw a piece of metel that looked exactly like the piece of metal they had. The compared that patch to an existing Electra aircraft that is being restored in Newton, KS. They were able to confirm that everything matched up to the structure of the airplane.
TIGHAR is planning another expedition to the island next year to examine an object underwater that they believe to be the complete airplane.
© Many Signals Communications
MOST VIEWED STORIES
Hiawatha man charged after escape from police custody
Meriden teen injured in Jeff co wreck
Two arrested in rural Horton drug bust
USD 415 board approves resignations, new hires
Fake sports rings seized enroute to Atchison
USD 115 board fails to fill vacancy after 3 votes
Early Saturday house fire battled in Atchison
Topeka woman arrested in Jackson Co on drug charges
Hearing held on USD 115 land transfer petition
Failure to stop, Georgia warrants, hold Atchison man
4th attorney appointed for TX man charged in fatal Jackson Co wreck
8-year-old injured in mid-week Atchison wreck
Lansing man arrested in overdose death
New Mayor appointed for Lancaster
LV man sentenced for teen sexual attack
K-9 bridge replacement underway in Nemaha County
LATEST STORIES
Electrical distribution project upgrades for Falls City
NPPD warns downed power lines can be deadly
MHMA Mock Trial Team wins state, heads to natls
Nebraska students taking advantage of dual credit courses
Lansing inmate dead, investigation continues
Motorcyclist injured in Winthrop, MO crash
Bird flu found in two KS dairy herds
Brown Co certifies election results