Lawsuit: Plane of Amelia Earhart Has Been Found

A lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming alleged that the plane of Amelia Earhart had been located. Plaintiff Timothy Mellon stated in his Complaint that during its NIKU VI expedition around Nikumaroro from May 18, 2010, through June 14, 2010, Defendant The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) had obtained “footage of the wreckage of the Lockheed Electra flown by Amelia Earhart when she disappeared in 1937.”

However, Mellon charged that TIGHAR did not disclose this discovery. Instead, Defendant Gillespie, the Executive Director of TIGHAR, continued to solicit money from Plaintiff to fund another expedition to discover the Earhart wreckage. Plaintiff had contributed stock with the value of $1,046,843 to fund the NIKU VII expedition. The Complaint accused the Defendants of fraud and negligent misrepresentation.

Timothy Mellon v. The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery

The National Archives has a letter dated November 10, 1936, from Amelia Earhart to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, seeking his assistance, in arranging refueling in the air over Midway Island.

Letter from Amelia Earhart to President Roosevelt

You can also read the Report of Earhart Search by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard, which details the efforts to locate Amelia Earhart and Fred J. Noonan after their plane had gone missing.

Report of Earhart Search