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In early 2009, the Waitt Institute for Discovery conducted a deep-sea search for Amelia Earhart’s Lockheed Electra aircraft in the area of the South Pacific where many researchers believe she crashed and perished on July 2, 1937. On that day, she and navigator Fred Noonan vanished without a trace during Earhart’s attempt to become the first woman to fly around the world at the equator.

The Institute’s mission, known as CATALYST 2, involved assembling a diverse group of experts from multiple backgrounds and institutions to identify the most likely search areas for Earhart’s plane. Then, using a pair of REMUS 6000 Autonomous Underwater Vehicles equipped with side scan sonar, an experienced research team surveyed over 2,000 square miles of ocean floor at an average depth of 5,200 meters.

Sadly, locating the Electra was not to be. But, the good news is we’re confident we know where she isn’t.

Therefore, for the benefit of future researchers, the Waitt Institute is sharing all scientific results, as well as a provocative, first-hand account of life aboard ship, at a specially designed new Web portal known as Search for Amelia. One of the most comprehensive digital records on the life and legacy of Amelia Earhart available today, Search for Amelia is a collaborative site where comments and ideas about Earhart and her final flight are invited and encouraged.

Waitt Institute partners during CATALYST 2 included Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.