Lae is the second-largest city in Papua New Guinea and the capital of Morobe Province, situated near the delta of the Markham River on the northern coast of Huon Gulf. According to Wikipedia, it is the largest cargo port in the country and serves as the industrial hub of PNG, sitting at the start of the Highlands Highway — the main land corridor connecting the coast to the Highlands Region. Known locally as the "Garden City," it is home to the Papua New Guinea University of Technology. Before it became a bustling port, Lae was home to a pre-WWII airfield that entered history on July 2, 1937, when Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan took off from it on one of the final legs of their attempted around-the-world flight — and were never seen again. Gates traveled here in the very first episode of Expedition Unknown to investigate two emerging theories: that Earhart may have crashed on or near the island nation she departed from, and that local tribal accounts of jungle wreckage could hold the key to one of aviation's most enduring mysteries.
Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan depart Lae's airfield on July 2, bound for Howland Island, and subsequently vanish over the Pacific
Human bones are discovered on the Pacific atoll of Nikumaroro, raising early speculation about a connection to Earhart; the remains are later shipped to Fiji and lost
Gates investigates Lae and surrounding areas in Expedition Unknown S01E01, gathering oral history accounts from local villagers and tribal elders about possible jungle wreckage
The disappearance of Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan on July 2, 1937 remains one of the most investigated cold cases in aviation history. The mainstream consensus holds that Earhart and Noonan most likely ran out of fuel somewhere over the central Pacific while searching for tiny Howland Island, and went down at sea — though no definitive wreckage or remains have ever been confirmed. Their last confirmed point of departure was Lae's airfield, making the city a crucial reference point for any serious reconstruction of the flight's final hours.
Two major competing theories have attracted the most sustained research attention. The first, championed most prominently by the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR), holds that Earhart and Noonan may have diverted south and landed or crash-landed on Nikumaroro (then Gardner Island), a remote coral atoll in what is now Kiribati. TIGHAR researchers have identified a piece of aluminum debris on the island they believe could be a patch from the Electra's fuselage, and human bones discovered on Nikumaroro in 1940 — later lost in transit to Fiji — have added intrigue to this theory. The second theory, which Gates explores in this episode, posits that Earhart turned back toward Papua New Guinea and went down in the jungle or coastal waters near Lae itself, a hypothesis long circulating among local communities but less thoroughly examined by outside researchers.
The oral history traditions Gates encounters in the Lae area are taken seriously as a starting point for investigation, even if they cannot by themselves constitute archaeological evidence. Generational storytelling in PNG communities can preserve culturally significant events over long periods, and local accounts of unusual jungle wreckage have been cited by researchers as worth following up. That said, the dense tropical environment and the passage of more than eight decades make physical verification extraordinarily difficult — any debris recovered would require forensic analysis to confirm a connection to the Electra.
The S01E01 episode of Expedition Unknown does not claim to resolve the Earhart mystery, and Gates is candid about that uncertainty from the outset: "I have been fascinated with Amelia Earhart for my entire life, and I'm eager to know if these new leads may bring us closer to the truth, or whether the world is looking in the wrong place." The episode's value lies in bringing the PNG-focused theory to a wide audience and documenting oral histories that might otherwise go unrecorded by outside researchers.
Lae is the largest cargo port in Papua New Guinea and the country's primary industrial hub, according to Wikipedia.
The city sits near the delta of the Markham River on the northern coast of Huon Gulf, giving it both river and sea access.
Lae is the starting point of the Highlands Highway, Papua New Guinea's main land transport corridor connecting the coast to the interior Highlands Region.
The city is nicknamed the "Garden City" and is home to the Papua New Guinea University of Technology.
Lae is generally accessible via domestic flights from Port Moresby, PNG's capital, and by road via the Highlands Highway. As PNG's largest cargo port and second-largest city, it has hotels, restaurants, and basic tourist infrastructure, though travelers are advised to check current safety advisories before visiting, as urban security conditions in PNG can vary. The historical airfield site and surrounding areas of Morobe Province can be explored with local guides.
Lae is itself the nearest major city; Port Moresby, the national capital, is approximately 315 kilometers to the southwest by air.
The dry season from May to October is generally considered the more comfortable time to visit, with reduced rainfall and easier travel conditions. The wet season, roughly November through April, can bring heavy rains that complicate overland travel in the Morobe region.
Australian Outback
The Australian Outback has also been investigated in connection with wartime-era aviation mysteries and disappearances in the Pacific region, thematically linking it to the Earhart investigation Gates launched from Lae.
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean has featured in Gates' investigations of maritime disappearances and lost aircraft, sharing the same core tension between vast, uncharted waters and the search for physical evidence.
Neahkahnie Mountain
Neahkahnie Mountain involves a long-standing local oral history tradition — similar to the tribal accounts Gates gathered in Lae — pointing to possible hidden wreckage or treasure that has never been definitively confirmed.
Historical data sourced from Wikipedia