Search for Amelia Earhart…

Press Release from TIGHER
June 20, 2007

Photo Source: NASA

The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR, pronounced "tiger") first visited the Phoenix Group in 1989 as part of the nonprofit foundation's investigation into the 1937 disappearance of famed aviator Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan.  Sufficient evidence was found on Nikumaroro (formerly Gardner Island) to prompt subsequent expeditions in 1991 and 1996.  A fourth TIGHAR expedition to Nikumaroro in 1997 aboard the Fiji-based live-aboard dive ship Nai'a brought the atoll's pristine marine environment to the attention of the ship's owners ultimately creating a connection to the New England Aquarium's Dr. Greg Stone. TIGHAR's efforts to solve the Earhart mystery continued with additional expeditions to the Phoenix Islands in 1998, 1999, 2001, and 2003.  With each trip, TIGHAR aviation archaeological teams found further evidence that the lost flyers landed and died as castaways on Nikumaroro.  Slowly but steadily, the pieces of the Earhart puzzle are coming together.  An eighth TIGHAR expedition to Nikumaroro in the summer of 2007 - the 70th anniversary of the disappearance - will continue the quest.  For more on TIGHAR and the search for Amelia Earhart visit www.tighar.org.