A deep-sea exploration group believes it has unlocked the answer to one of the greatest aviation mysteries of all time.
Researchers at Nauticos have restored a an 88-year-old radio which may reveal the location of Amelia Earhart's plane in the Pacific Ocean.
The renowned American pioneer was seeking to become the first female pilot ever to circumnavigate the world after setting off from Lea in New Guinea in 1937 with her navigator, Fred Noonan.
However, the pair went missing during their voyage and were never seen or heard from again.
The disappearance triggered the most extensive sea and air search in American history at the time - and no hints to explain what happened to Ms Earhart and her aircraft were ever discovered.
The renowned American pioneer was seeking to become the first female pilot ever to circumnavigate the world
|GETTY
But the Nauticos research team has said it may be just one step away from an answer.
The radio restored by Nauticos is identical to the one used onboard Ms Earhart's Lockheed Electra aircraft.
The firm's president, Dave Jordan, said: "Our latest radio communication analysis is a major leap forward in solving one of the most enduring mysteries in aviation history.
"We have narrowed the search area dramatically, and this new expedition presents our best chance yet to finally locate Amelia Earhart's plane."
PICTURED: The 1930s radio faithfully restored in a bid to find Amelia Earhart's plane
|NAUTICOS
The company obtained and restored a Western Electric 13C aircraft transmitter and a Bendix Model RA–1A receiver.
The restoration has allowed researchers to exactly pinpoint the American aviator's exact location at 8am on the day it disappeared.
Until now, researchers had been surveying around 3,610 square miles to track down the plane's wreckage.
Nauticos will now be launching a fourth expedition, carrying out tests on the exact radio used by Ms Earhart to recreate the circumstances leading up to her disappearance.
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The expedition's project manager, Jeff Morris, said: "The fourth Nauticos mission to search for Amelia Earhart will be based on the scientific data that we've collected during extensive radio testing.
"This is no longer theory.
"This is scientifically-measured information that tells us where she was at 8am on July 2, 1937."
Nauticos has also managed to replicate the conditions of Ms Earhart's final flight to determine the rough location of her final transmissions.
In her mission to circumnavigate the globe, she had to stop on the tiny Howland Island to refuel.
This leg of the journey involved a 2,556-mile, 18-hour flight across the international date line.
The Coast Guard ship Itasca waited for her with fuel for the next leg of the journey, and began to receive Ms Earhart's intermittent radio messages which appeared to be coming closer.
The Itasca received the aviator's strongest voice signal shortly before 8am, when she told them she was circling and searching and running low on fuel.
Her final transmission was picked up at 8.43am.
The research company have managed to identify the exact spot where Ms Earhart's final transmissions were made
|GETTY
In 2024, researchers from a separate deep sea exploration organisation believed they may have found her plane using sonar imaging.
However much to their disappointment, the discovery turned out to be a rock formation.
Ms Earhart became the first female pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic in 1932 at the age of 34.
The pioneer was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1968 and the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1973.