Museum releases historical photos of island where Amelia Earhart may have crashed

Aerial view from a plane wing of Nikumaroro’s lagoon and forested coastline taken during a 1938 aerial survey, when it was known as Gardner Island. Photograph: RNZAF

A New Zealand museum has released nearly 50 photos from a 1938 aerial survey of the island where Amelia Earhart is believed to have crash-landed, offering amateur sleuths new evidence to scour for traces of the pioneering aviator and her plane.

The black-and-white images were published by the Air Force Museum of New Zealand after renewed interest in one of the biggest mysteries of the 20th century, spurred by a US expedition to the Pacific atoll of Nikumaroro in search of new clues.