Amelia Rose Earhart, Distant Relative Of Legendary Pilot, To Re-Create Ill-Fated Flight Around The World

A distant relative of legendary pilot Amelia Earhart has announced plans to re-create her doomed final flight. Amelia Rose Earhart, a traffic and weather reporter for Denver-based KUSA, will fly around the world in a Pilatus PC-12 NG single-engine turboprop aircraft. She is scheduled for takeoff from Oakland, Calif., in June 2014.

"My passion for flight and adventure has driven me to explore new experiences I never would have imagined possible as a child," Earhart said in a statement. "Hard work, persistence and great role models have enabled me to fly outside the lines and achieve my dreams. Aviation plays an integral role in my life and I hope to share some of that joy with others through this adventure."

According to USA Today, Earhart, 30, started taking flying lessons in 2004. During her journey, she’ll be accompanied by co-pilot and Arkansas businessman Patrick Carter. The two will follow a flight path taking them through Hawaii, Nigeria, Brazil, Senegal, India, Thailand and more. The flight will include 14 stops and cover roughly 25,000 nautical miles.

"Amelia and Patrick's love of flight, yearning for adventure and dedication to safety and education make them great ambassadors for the Pilatus brand," Thomas Bosshard, president and CEO for Pilatus Business Aircraft, Ltd, said. "The Pilatus PC-12 NG's unique combination of reliability, speed, range and performance make it the perfect aircraft to complete this demanding flight.”

There are plans for the flight to be streamed live. "We want people to be able to log in online and see what's going on in the cockpit," Carter told USA Today.

Earhart won’t be the first person to re-create that famous flight. As USA Today notes, the journey was helmed by Anne Pellegreno flying a Lockheed 10A Electra in July 1967, and Gaby Kennard, who flew a Piper Saratoga in 1989.

Amelia Earhart disappeared while flying a Lockheed Electra 10E over the Pacific Ocean on July 2, 1937, during an attempted flight around the world. A number of different theories have been bandied about with regard to what happened -- crashing into the ocean, landing on Gardner Island, captured by the Japanese -- but Earhart and her co-pilot, Fred Noonan, have never been found.