Fresh attempt to solve the mystery of Amelia Earhart

A newly-discovered photograph taken in the Pacific Ocean months after Earhart vanished in 1937 is believed to show the landing gear and wheel of the plane in which she was attempting to become the first woman to fly around the world.

Its discovery fuelled new speculation over the fate of Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, and led to the announcement by Ms Clinton yesterday of a $500,000 partnership by the US government and an undersea exploration company to search the area near the Kiribati islands where Earhart was believed to have crashed.

“Her legacy resonates today for anyone, girls and boys, who dreams of the stars,” Ms Clinton said. “When she took off on that historic journey she carried the aspirations of our entire nation with her. We can be as optimistic and audacious as Earhart. There is great honour and possibility in the search itself.”

The grainy photograph shows what some experts believe could be a wheel and strut from an aeroplane similar in size to Earhart’s twin-engine Lockheed Electra, which disappeared between New Guinea (now Papua New Guinea) and Howland Island on 2 July, 1937.

The Delaware-based International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery will launch an expedition in July with logistical support from the Kiribati and US governments, having raised $500,000 to fund the mission.

Officials say there is a possibility of finding evidence to solve the mystery, but a State Department spokesman warned: “A healthy dose of scepticism must be in play. We’re not making any bets.”

Earhart, who was 39, was the first female pilot to fly the Atlantic solo and the first woman to be awarded the US Distinguished Flying Cross. Her attempt to circumnavigate the globe enthralled followers in the US and created one of the 20th century’s most enduring mysteries when she disappeared.

Despite several false leads, no trace has ever been found of her, Noonan or the plane.

There are theories that Earhart survived a crash on land and lived as a castaway or that she was killed outright when the plane hit the water. DNA tests on bone fragments found in 2010 were inconclusive.

Oceanographer Robert Ballard, who discovered the wreckage of the Titanic and the Bismarck and is advising the Earhart expedition, said the new analysis of the photograph narrows the search area from tens of thousands of square miles to a manageable size.

He said: “If you ever want a case of finding a needle in a haystack, this is at the top of the list.”

Ms Clinton said she became involved in the project because of her own admiration for Earhart, who inspired her to write to Nasa when she was 13.

“I asked what I needed to do to try to be an astronaut, but of course there weren’t any women astronauts,” she said.

“Nasa may have said I couldn’t go into space, but nobody was there to tell Amelia Earhart she couldn’t do what she chose to.”