In other plane news: Explorers head to S. Pacific to confirm Earhart's plane wreck

[justiceischeap]

Amelia Earhart's plane disappeared in 1937 and it remains one of the world's enduring mysteries. Now, explorers are excited about new evidence that could confirm that artifacts found on a remote South Pacific island are from the wreckage of her plane.

The National Group for Historic Aircraft Recovering is making its 11th trip this coming fall to the island of Nikumaroro where increasingly, evidence of a plane crash there points to the Earhart wreck.

...snip...

The collected details thus far are these: Human remains were found on the island three years after Earhart's plane disappeared that are believed to be a woman's. There is a piece of plane fuselage that the team's director believes washed up on shore many years ago which has rivet marks that match repair records of Earhart's Lockheed Electra. Finally, campsite artifacts recovered on the island date to the 1930's and were manufactured in America.

Some of those items were a women's compact and freckle-cream jar manufactured in the U.S. around that decade.

http://www.wtop.com/109/3580023/Clues-to-a-decades-old-mystery

Seems like we're getting closer to finding at least one missing plane.

[gordianot]

1. Good point, too bad they did not have radio transponers in Earharts day.

What totally amazes me is you can turn off a transponder on a plane today.

[groundloop]

8. A transponder wouldn't have done any good without a radar station to communicate with it

And as far as a pilot being able to turn off a transponder, those of us who fly aren't idiots - we know when a transponder is supposed to be on and when it should be off. For instance, at a busy airport with a lot of planes on the ground that have either just landed or are preparing to takeoff - if every one of them leave their transponders on ATC's radar display would be so cluttered they couldn't read it. Therefore it's common practice to turn the transponder on just before you take off and turn it back off as soon as possible after you've landed. Also, ANY electrical equipment is capable of malfunctioning and it can be a matter of safety to be able to turn it off.

[William769]

2. Hopefully it won't take as long to find the other one.

This is one mystery I would like to see solved.

[hlthe2b]

3. I have been mesmerized by Earhart's saga since childhood

I wish them all the luck in truly establishing what happened. I only wish the woman's bones found decades ago (and then lost) could be recovered.

[Schema Thing]

4. this sounds hoaxy. "compact and freckle-cream jar"?

" Human remains were found on the island three years after Earhart's plane disappeared that are believed to be a woman's." ?

[riderinthestorm]

5. Not hoaxy at all.

http://news.discovery.com/history/us-history/amelia-earhart-beauty-case-120713.htm

[Schema Thing]

6. hmmm, still seems hoaxy to me

but it would be very cool if they found something compelling and it was verified by respected research.

[apnu]

7. It is well known that Amelia Earhart hated her freckles and used products of the day against them.

So finding it on the island is highly suggestive that Earhart was there.

[Schema Thing]

10. It's also extremely *convenient*

and the piss-poor quality photographs on the Discovery site are not upping my confidence level.

[groundloop]

9. I've followed the Earhart investigation for a number of years, Nikumaroro sounds the most likely....

There's been a lot of good evidence to come from there already. It'll be interesting to see if they can come up with anything more.