I'm a pilot and 99% certain I've found Amelia Earhart's lost plane - no one believes me

A captain who flies planes for a British airline transporting passengers on holiday package tours has told how he's certain he's 'found' Amelia Earhart's lost plane, yet he can't get anybody to take him seriously. Captain Justin Myers was born in Essex, but now lives in Lancashire - and he's '99% certain' he spotted the wreckage of Earhart's plane in 2022.

Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan disappeared on July 2, 1937, over the Pacific Ocean en route to Howland Island from Lae, New Guinea - and it's become an intriguing aviation mystery spanning 88 years so far. Now, Justin has told how he wants to see the mystery solved once and for all. The 49-year-old has been a pilot since the year 2000. In September 2022, he watched a programme about Nikumaroro Island and the possibility that Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan had crash-landed there.

Justin considered that the pair could have 'survived for a period of time, no doubt waiting for a rescue' and the heartbreaking story piqued his interest.

The pilot, who has been fascinated with vintage planes and historic wrecks since he was a kid, decided to have a 'snoop around', uncovering some interesting satellite images.

Justin could see 'the engine half exposed, the wheel half hanging out' and could even 'make out the cockpit' and it 'strongly points to the obvious', he claims.

He explained: "Initially I didn't think much of it as it was before I knew much about Google Earth, but then I zoomed in on areas.

"As a pilot, I thought to myself, if I was in Amelia's position trying to find a needle in a haystack low on fuel and, to be honest, if we were in her position, no doubt using some choice language, where would I force land my Lockheed Electra 10E?

"I picked an area which would probably have been what I thought to be best, considering the circumstances. I zoomed in and there was a long sandy-looking shape.

"To the left of the sandy section that had been eroded by the weather over many years was a dark coloured, perfectly straight object.

"I used the measuring tool on Google Earth and, to my surprise and mild little shiver, it measured approximately 39ft.

"It's a massive thing, to have seen the debris, but no one has investigated, I'm 99% sure it was a vintage plane.

"I was snooping around as I was curious after watching the programme - I zoomed in on some areas but didn't think much of it, until a few days later.

"I measured the cylinder, it was 39 metres - there was coral attached to it, coral had formed around the cylinders, between the engine and the fuel suctions.

"The exhaust had come off, the engine had come off and was half exposed - it was clearly an aeroplane.

"The parts were all there, they measured up correctly, from the wing buried in the sand I can even make out the cockpit window - and a shine of glass on the back door."

The 49-year-old pilot explained that he researched Amelia's plane in detail after he found the images - and her 'plane door had been replaced with a glass window added to it'.

Justin sent the images to Purdue University (in Indiana, USA) but didn't hear anything back from them, but what he captured in satellite images was 'clearly an aeroplane' he said.

He also sent the imagery to ATSB (aviation investigations) ATSB - and another establishment in aviation, a Canadian expedition company, expressed some interest in the pictures.

The sight has been playing on his mind since 2022, when he first captured satellite images of the wreckage on Nikumaroro Island via Google Earth.

But now, when he zooms in to the same spot, the 'wreckage has been covered again by passing weather systems,' he explained.

Justin said the mystery needs to come to a close and that the images 'definitely show a plane' and it's 'someone's loved one, whether it's that (Amelia's) plane or not'.

"It's a plane, I just can't prove which one it is", he explained, "when I went back to have another look, it was covered again".

Justin added: "It strongly points towards the obvious, if not Amelia Earhart's it could be another lost wreck, but the parts are all there and they measure up correctly.

"I'd hope they would go straight to the location and not waste time, there's too much detail there, it narrows it down, there's not many other planes like that missing."

Justin created a blog with the satellite imagery he collected, which you can view here.

Aviation pioneer, Amelia Earhart vanished 88 years ago, but the mystery remains unsolved, but there have been several other sightings of possible wrecake in recent years.