The mystery surrounding the disappearance of legendary pilot Amelia Earhart may have been solved by a scientific discovery.

Last month, the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) suggested she died as a castaway after she landed her plane safely on a remote island.

Now, scientists say a new discovery using forensic imaging shows a striking similarity between the pilot and the partial skeleton of a castaway found on an island in the country of Kiribati in 1940, reported News AU.

Earhart was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean in May 1932, taking off in Canada and landing in Ireland.

She was attempting to fly around the world when her plane disappeared somewhere near Howland Island, in the middle of the Pacific.

The bones were uncovered on the island of Nikumaroro, also known as Gardner Island, which is about 400 miles south of Howland Island.

They were analysed in 1940, but a doctor ruled out the possibility they belonged to Earhart, thinking they were male.

However, when TIGHAR discovered the files in 1998, scientists said modern techniques proved the bones were "consistent with a female of Earhart's height and ethnic origin".

Anthropologist Richard Jantz has now matched up Earhart's arms with the skeletons using forensic imaging.

Forensic imaging specialist Jeff Glickman used a photo were her arms were visible and found the difference between her lower and upper arm was virtually identical to the partial skeleton.

The discovery doesn't conclusively prove the castaway was Amelia Earhart, but it adds weight to the theory.