Amelia Earhart

**Amelia Earhart** is the first episode of Season 1 of Expedition Unknown and it aired on January 8th, 2015.

## Plot Synopsis

Adventurer Josh Gates hunts down new evidence on the disappearance of Amelia Earhart. He treks to uncharted tribal lands in Papua New Guinea and ends his journey in Fiji, hoping to uncover the pilot’s remains.

## Historical Context

"Amelia Earhart... her disappearance during her attempt to circumnavigate the globe in 1937 is perhaps the most iconic unsolved mystery in the world... on July 2nd, 1937, Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, are set to make history as they begin one of the last legs of their daring trans-world flight. They take off from an airfield in Lae, Papua New Guinea bound for remote Howland Island in the Pacific. Along the way, Earhart, her navigator, and the famed Lockheed Electra vanish."

- Josh Gates

## Summary

Josh goes to Port Moresby the capital of Papua New Guinea and meets the Asaro Mudmen, who have a war legend associated with them. They continue to pay homage to the legendary battle by caking themselves in white mud. From Port Moresby, he travels to Lae, where Amelia Earhart took off from on one of the last legs of her journey to circumnavigate the globe.

Josh goes to meet a local tribe in Lae who claims to have information about the wreckage of Earhart's Lockheed Electra. In the village, Josh meets an elder named Iru Baman. The elder recounts that it was a big event for Papua New Guinea when Amelia Earhart came and some local tribes believe that instead of crashing, she circled back to Papua New Guinea and crashed on or around the island.

The village says that the received notice that the Baining tribe in Rabaul had supposedly found the same wreckage that an Australian corporal in 1945 did. The corporal had written down the serial number which was similar to Earhart's. As Josh is talking with Iru a small earthquake hits the village.

Josh travels to the island of New Britain and to the former capital of Papua New Guinea, Rabaul. He tries the potent combination of buai at a local market and meets a historian named Rob Rowenson. They go by helicopter to the remote village of Vunalama. There they touch down near the Baining village and are met by villagers Bill and Clement. The tribe and Josh make a shelter from the rain and the tribe does a fire dance. The chief tells them about the wreckage. Tribal members guide Josh, Rob, and the crew through the forest to the plane wreckage. There they examine the wreckage and decided it's not Earhart's plane but instead a Japanese aircraft because the wheel structure didn't match the Earhart's, Lockheed Electra.

Josh heads back to the coast of Old Rabaul and meets with Rodney Pierce, a World War II historian and diver, in Rabaul Bay. They use sonar to locate underwater wrecks and dive down to find a Japanese Zero plane. The duo finds another closeby plane wreckage that they determine to be an American Grumman TBF avenger. There were still human remains in the cockpit, which they tag to be analysed later on.

Josh leaves Papau New Guinea and heads to Wilmington, Delaware. There he meets Ric Gillespie the executive director of TIGHAR, a group that is dedicated to finding Earhart's Lockheed Electra. Ric believes the plane crash-landed at Nikumararo Island, which is about 400 miles south of Howland Island, where Amelia Earhart was supposed to land. In 1991, they found a piece of aluminium on Nikumararo which they determined was from Amelia Earhart's plane. In addition, a man named Gerald Gallagher found a partial skeleton on Nikumararo in September 1940 which he sent to the Fiji School of Medicine. TIGHAR gained access to the doctor who examined the bones notes and sent the proportions to a couple of forensic anthropologists who came up with results similar to Amelia Earhart.

Josh goes to Suva, Fiji and he meets with the editor in chief of the Fiji Sun, Nemani Delaibatiki. Josh learns from Nemani that Dr Kenneth Gilchrist, the former head of the Fiji medical school, was in possession of the bones. When he passed away there were three beneficiaries, all of which also passed away. The Fiji Sun was able to get in contact with two of the beneficiaries families but the third has yet to be reached.

Josh travels to Navala, Fiji which is a small town in northwestern Fiji. Once he is close to the village he travels via bilibili raft to the village. He meets with the village spokesman, Sai Buliwa, and the chief of Navala, Kusitino Nadri. The chief grants Josh and the crew access to the village after they drink two cups of the kava root together. In the village, Josh goes hut to hut asking locals if they have heard of the man who may be in possession of the bones. One villager, Anare Ravula, recognises the surname Kalaviti, and tells Josh that he had been a Navala villager who passed away with no possessions. Anare recommends Josh goes and meets John Grey in Suva.

John Grey was thirteen years old, in 1968, when he found a box of bones under his house. The house used to belong to an employee at the Fiji School of Medicine. The two plan to go explore the crawlspace where John found the box of bones. Before exploring the crawlspace, Josh goes to the Fiji Museum and Archives to search for the box but turns up no results. John Grey and Josh go to John's childhood home and Josh explores the crawlspace only to find parts of human bone. They call the local police department who take over the scene. The policemen say it may take months to test all the bones but by the end of the episode, they have already determined that one is human.

## Final Words

"At the heart of Earhart's world flight was a commitment to opening new frontiers, and to unite the many cultures of the world. In that regard, her mission has been a success. She helped herald in the modern age of aviation, which now serves to connect every nation on Earth. In the end, I'm most drawn to the unanswered question - why do we continue the search? To me, the magnificent thing about Amelia is that in the eyes of the world, she never died - her fear never witnessed, her failure never recorded. Earhart's legacy of inspiration is amplified because her adventure is perpetual, unbroken by gravity. We simply think of her as missing. And perhaps that's where she belongs - somewhere over that limitless blue horizon."

- Josh Gates

## Notes & Trivia

* This episode was the debut of Expedition Unknown.
* Travel Channel has this as the fourth episode of the season, succeeding World's 8th Wonder and preceding City of Gold.
* As of the Raw & Unfiltered episode, the POW/MIA Agency has recovered the human remains from the TBF Avenger but has yet to do DNA testing for identification
* As of the Raw & Unfiltered episode, the bones found under John Grey's house have been determined to be male but could possibly still belong to Fred Noonan.

## Gallery

Photos shown in the slideshow are from Travel Channel's Amelia Earhart slideshow. If you hover over the images, their exact image address will appear.

* Josh Gates explores a Fijian beach on his hunt for Amelia EarhartGo to https://travel.home.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/travel/fullset/2014/12/15/ea/expedition-unknown-sp01-amelia-earhart-ss-005.rend.hgtvcom.966.644.suffix/1491584600189.jpeg
* Josh takes part in a traditional sing-sing in a Papau New Guinea villageGo to https://travel.home.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/travel/fullset/2014/12/15/47/expedition-unknown-sp01-amelia-earhart-ss-003.rend.hgtvcom.966.644.suffix/1491584600261.jpeg
* Josh takes a photo with the Asaro Mudmen in Papau New GuineaGo to https://travel.home.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/travel/fullset/2014/12/15/7f/expedition-unknown-sp01-amelia-earhart-ss-004.rend.hgtvcom.966.644.suffix/1491584600268.jpeg
* A plane wreckage the Josh and his crews see in Papau New Guinea, a reminder and remnant of PNG's involvement in World War IIGo to https://travel.home.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/travel/fullset/2014/12/15/db/expedition-unknown-sp01-amelia-earhart-ss-002.rend.hgtvcom.966.644.suffix/1491584599594.jpeg
* John Grey and Josh look at their findings from the crawlspaceGo to https://travel.home.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/travel/fullset/2014/12/15/8e/expedition-unknown-sp01-amelia-earhart-ss-007.rend.hgtvcom.966.644.suffix/1491584600403.jpeg
* Josh explores the crawlspace under John Grey's childhood homeGo to https://travel.home.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/travel/fullset/2014/12/15/8e/expedition-unknown-sp01-amelia-earhart-ss-007.rend.hgtvcom.966.644.suffix/1491584600403.jpeg
* Josh and Sai Buliwa walk through the village of NavalaGo to https://travel.home.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/travel/fullset/2014/12/15/5a/expedition-unknown-sp01-amelia-earhart-ss-010.rend.hgtvcom.966.644.suffix/1491584600241.jpeg
* A local villager and Josh navigate the river by way of a bilibili raftGo to https://travel.home.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/travel/fullset/2014/12/15/c5/expedition-unknown-sp01-amelia-earhart-ss-011.rend.hgtvcom.966.644.suffix/1491584599926.jpeg
* Josh, Chief Kusitino Nadri, and other villagers sit in the chief's hut in NavalaGo to https://travel.home.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/travel/fullset/2014/12/15/fd/expedition-unknown-sp01-amelia-earhart-ss-012.rend.hgtvcom.966.644.suffix/1491584600036.jpeg
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## References

1. ↑ https://www.travelchannel.com/shows/expedition-unknown/photos/amelia-earhart-pictures