22 Aug 2012

Debris spotted off Kiribati island could be from Earhart's plane - researchers

8:26 am on 22 August 2012

Researchers trying to unravel the mystery surrounding the 1937 disappearance of US aviator Amelia Earhart in the Pacific say they've spotted debris that may have come from her plane.

High-definition video taken by a Project Earhart team and analysed in a laboratory show 'man-made objects'" scattered west of Kiribati's Nikumaroro Island.

The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery says the expedition - the 10th in 23 years - in July filmed the seabed near the island, where they think Ms Earhart may have made an emergency landing and lived for a short time during a bid to circumnavigate the globe along the equator.

Director Richard Gillespie says they saw elements in the underwater photographs that are consistent with pieces of landing gear.

He says it is a promising development but a lot more analysis is needed.