Search team heads to Nikumaroro island
Expedition hopes to find aviator Amelia Earhart's plane on remote island
Sunday, 11 October 2026
Photo by Christoph Burgdorfer on Unsplash
Warm-up
- What famous mysteries do you know?
- Have you ever visited an island? What was it like?
- Do you enjoy stories about explorers? Why or why not?
Vocabulary
- expedition
- a planned journey with a goal, often for science or discovery
- researcher
- a person who studies a subject to find new information
- remote
- far away from towns and people
- wreckage
- the broken parts of something, like a crashed plane
- satellite
- a machine in space that takes photos of Earth
- lagoon
- a small, calm body of water by the sea
- refuel
- to fill a vehicle with more fuel
- sceptical
- not sure that something is true; doubting
Reading
Listen to this story
British EnglishA US expedition from the Archaeological Legacy Institute and Purdue University is travelling to Nikumaroro, a remote island in Kiribati, to inspect possible wreckage from Amelia Earhart's plane. The team hopes to arrive by Monday. They are looking for the Taraia Object, first seen in satellite images in 2020 and also visible in photos from 1938, sitting by a lagoon.
The researchers left Kiribati's capital on the Marin Mainiku for an 830-mile trip. They must navigate a narrow gap in the reef, made by the British in 1963. Earhart disappeared in 1937 while trying to reach Howland Island to refuel during her round-the-world flight, and no confirmed evidence has been found.
Some experts are sceptical. Ric Gillespie says the object may be a fallen tree, not a plane.
Comprehension
- Where is the team travelling to?
- What object are they hoping to inspect?
- How long is their journey from the capital?
- In what year did Amelia Earhart disappear?
- What does Ric Gillespie think the object might be?
Grammar focus
Past continuous
Use was/were + verb-ing to show an action in progress at a time in the past, often with when/while for background. Form: was/were + verb-ing. (Examples constructed.)
- Earhart was trying to reach Howland when she disappeared.
- Researchers were looking at photos while the boat moved.
Grammar exercise
Complete with the past continuous (was/were + verb-ing).
- The team (travel) ___ to Nikumaroro when dawn broke.
- Researchers (navigate) ___ the reef when waves rose.
- A researcher (inspect) ___ debris while others waited.
- They (search) ___ the shore when radios failed.
- Crew members (check) ___ maps while the captain steered.
Discussion
- Why do people still care about this mystery today?
- Do you think the Taraia Object is a plane? Why or why not?
- What tools are useful for searches like this?
- Is it worth the cost to run expeditions like this? Why?
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