Amelia Earhart
Renowned U.S. pilot Amelia Earhart is pictured in this 1928 photograph released on March 20, 2012. Scientists on March 20, 2012 announced a new search to resolve the disappearance of Earhart, saying fresh evidence from a remote Pacific island may reveal the fate of Earhart, who vanished in 1937 while attempting to circle the globe. Reuters/Library of Congress/Handout

The remains of American aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart were likely to have been found on a western Pacific Ocean island in 1940. The new findings would possibly settle talks over Earhart's fate after she vanished while attempting a flight around the world in 1937.

A new analysis re-examined measurements of bones found on the Pacific island of Nikumaroro. Anthropologist Richard Jantz from the University of Tennessee conducted an analysis that “strongly supports the conclusion that the Nikumaroro bones belonged to Amelia Earhart.” The study was published in the journal Forensic Anthropology.

A British party had been exploring the island for habitation when they found a human skull, a Navy tool used by Earhart’s navigator Fred Noonan, a woman's shoe and a bottle of the herbal liqueur Benedictine. A total of 13 bones were found and sent to Fiji to be analysed. Dr DW Hoodless concluded at that time that they had belonged to a male. The findings were reinforced in 2015 by another study.

Jantz recognised that there was a suspicion that the bones could be the remains of Earhart. But he argued that forensic osteology was not well-developed in the early 20th century. Hoodless had possibly reached the wrong conclusion.

Jantz specifically utilised Fordisc, a modern computer programme used by forensic anthropologists, to compare estimates of Earhart’s bone lengths with the Nikumaroro bones. He concluded that “the only documented person to whom they may belong is Amelia Earhart.” The analysis shows that bones are consistent with Earhart “in all respects we know or can reasonably infer.” For Jantz, it is highly unlikely that a random person would resemble the bones as closely as Earhart.

A "historical seamstress" analysed her clothing, including "the inseam length and waist circumference of Earhart's trousers.” "This analysis reveals that Earhart is more similar to the Nikumaroro bones than 99% of individuals in a large reference sample," the report reads.

According to the study, the most convincing argument is that the remains are hers until definitive evidence is presented against it.

Earhart was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. Since the mystery of her disappearance during an attempted flight around the world, several people from many countries have searched and waited for an answer to what happened to Earhart and her navigator. Even their plane had vanished without a trace.