A Norwegian Navy expedition that set sail at the end of August has failed to recover the wreckage of the aircraft flown by polar explorer Roald Amundsen.

The explorer disappeared in June 1928 when his aircraft, a Latham 47 seaplane, went down in the Arctic Sea near Spitzbergen as he was flying to the aid of another explorer, the Italian Umberto Nobile.
 

Over the last two weeks, the expedition searched a large area close to the island of Bjoernoeya, some 500 kilometres from the northern tip of Norway. The last radio message from Amundsen's plane originated from the search area.

However, despite using advanced equipment and undersea robots, the expedition failed to find any wreckage. A journalist who took part in the mission said, "we didn't find anything unfortunately," adding, "the conclusion is the plane wasn't in the area, that's 100 percent sure".

Roald Amundsen is a Norwegian national hero and was the first man to reach both the North and South Poles as well as the first man to navigate the Northwest Passage that connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.