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Anonymous / AP file
Amelia Earhart in an undated photo.
The State Department plans to join a new effort to find the plane of pioneering aviator Amelia Earhart, 75 years after she mysteriously disappeared over the South Pacific.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood will take part in a ceremony Tuesday morning announcing the joint public-private search at the State Department, The Wall Street Journal reports. The event, "Amelia Earhart, a Pacific Legacy," which is pitched as a celebration of the U.S.'s pan-Pacific ties, will be streamed live at 9 a.m. on the State Department's website, a spokesman for the agency said.
Earhart's twin-engine Lockheed vanished July 2, 1937, as she and her navigator, Fred Noonan, left New Guinea (now Papua New Guinea) on their way to Howland Island in the South Pacific as part of an attempt to circle the Earth.
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The search will center on the Nikumaroro Islands in the South Pacific.
The half-million-dollar search, financed with private funds, will begin in July. The key area is the Pacific atoll of Nikumaroro between Hawaii and Australia, The Journal reports:
A search team will concentrate on the deep waters near Nikumaroro, which was the site of a 2010 search that focused on coral reefs and nearby shallow waters, these people said.
The search will be spearheaded again by the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, which has championed the theory that the renowned female aviator and Fred Noonan, the other crew member on the July 1937 flight, ended up on or near the west coast of the island, formerly called Gardner Island.
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Finding Amelia Earhart's plane is like trying to find the Titanic underwater,except the Titanic is 1,000,000 times bigger than a plane.
its amazing how many idiots are out there, just waiting to use some cliche about the govt wasting tax payer dollars. try reading the article first. as far as interest is concerned, there are millions of people who are going to follow this and watch-read whatever program-book results from it. and 500 g is nothing, private or govt wise. disney is going to lose 200 million on one of their movies. how much does doritos pay for a superbowl ad?
500 g is a little stack,but what happens when you pile up a whole bunch of little stacks?You get a big stack.In other words,$500,000 adds up on other payments to become a lot of money.
i understand that logic, i can appreciate it. putting aside that this isnt govt money, i think the us govt putting out some money to determine what happened to a prominent american citizen is worth it. this would be of national interest, not some pork project. besides that, there are practical lessons to be had in this sort of endeavor.
A half million dollars will pay for approximately five days of searching at today's prices. Several people already think they know where the plane is -- in 6000 feet of water -- so this may even produce some results.
Da Plane, Da Plane!!! They need "Tattoo" for this job.
Aw, give it a rest, how many times they gonna look for her remains? She's been gone a long, long time. Get over it.
If we are suppose to know more about this tragedy from the past; the shifting sands under the Ocean will reveal what we need to know. Some things are just better left as a mystery. Just to keep you guessing; until you move on to the future. Time will tell when it is necessary to understand.
Why not equip Hillary with a airless tank, a double hose regulator, and let her search the reef? Then she'd be a real heroine.
can some one help me get a gallon of milk for my kids ?
You have interesting priorities. Sell the computer you are posting on and buy milk for your children. In the future don't buy luxuries like a computer if you are unable to feed your children.
yeah finding her is like finding fly@!$%# in the pepper.
No -- at least you'll find some fly sh-t in the pepper!
pardon mauh.. fly excrement
Can't they track her GPS she was carrying?
Whew! Since the two wars are winding down, I was kind of wondering what the new budget (the one with $6.4 trillion in new debt) was buying. Now I see that our grandchildren's debt is being incurred for important, life-changing, pressing matters like this. There for a second, I almost thought this money was a stupid, worthless exercise in irresponsible spending. But now I feel more informed.
Appears he went down in the middle of nowhere ....
Good luck with that search ....
He?
We could designate her shovel-ready and throw a few billion Owebamma bucks away trying to find her. Must be, what, creating 10-12 new sustainable jobs (they never find her)? Sounds korny enough to be true!
OK......I saw the movie. She was independent and pretty good looking. I just want to believe she slid that plane onto a white sand beach and climbed out into the arms of some burly native who fixed up her bloody nose and gave her 24 hours of needed sleep. She woke and looked into his eyes and said, 'my hero' and they lived happily ever after. Let it go!
We all know that Amelia, Jesus, Elvis, Aquaman, Tupac, and Biggie are waiting until December to show themselves. Where they will then form some kind of Super Best Friends Justice League type deal and fight the Anti-Christ that is Snooki's unborn child...it all makes sense.
On a serious note, I love history and this "story" if it can be called that right now interests me. So I can't wait to hear if they find anything
Why is the project being called "public-private" if no tax dollars are being used? This is taken from the article.
they may be doing a physical joint venture, but it is paid for by the privatesector.
I am totally for this search. If they find Amelia's plane, I believe they will find Jimmy Hoffa too. I've always thought Mafia figures would hide his body in that plane. This will solve two riddles at once. Well worth the dough.
I hope if they do find them. Please leave the remains. Not like what happened after Titanic was found. Everyone wanted there little peace of history. Secretary Clinton and sponsorship let is lay.
Why? What a joke!
More proof that there's absolutely nothing going on in D.C. whatsoever.
I think if they really want to find her plane, just hire Bob Ballard....
Unbelievable! Iran is on the verge of having nuclear weapons, North Korea is about to launch a missile that can have a nuclear warhead, 8,000 Arabs have been murdered in Syria, thousands are starving to death every day in the Sudan, and this is what Hilary decides is important? Searching for a dead woman flyer from 70 years ago!?!?!? This is a priority of the State Department???? I suppose this is intended to appeal to the Woman's lib movement and all... what a load of @!$%#!! I guess the upside is that there's a chance that Her Thighness's plane could do down too from being overweight!!!
Look, over here! A shiny interesting thing!
She is dead. Black people found her wreckage but did not hang around too long as they probably had to feed their families. Why don't we use that half million to help some people start farms, find potable water, or have sanitary living conditions in New Guinea or some other place where it is really is needed. I am white, but millions of people of color and white people have and continue to die because of inhospitable living conditions. Can't we find a better focus.