Myth: They were on a spy mission for the military, assigned to take photos of Saipan. First and foremost, Earhart was a confirmed pacifist and would never have entertained such a request. A detour to overfly Saipan would have put them approximately 2,600 miles off their planned route, leaving them without enough fuel to reach their destination — a tiny spec called Howland Island.
Myth: The flight would have had the same impact as Charles Lindbergh’s solo flight across the Atlantic 10 years before. Not even close. By 1937, the days of the public’s fascination with aerial “firsts” had waned considerably.
Commercial airlines were carrying passengers, freight and mail routinely around the world. Earhart’s round-the-world flight was noteworthy, but hardly a “stop-the-presses!” event, even though Amelia herself was deeply respected and admired.
Myth: Earhart and Noonan were captured by the Japanese and held captive until they died. During this time, the Japanese were trying to improve American opinion of them, and sent several ships out to assist in the search. They would have loved to find the flyers and bask in the goodwill it would have generated. But their search, like that of the Americans, yielded nothing.
The pioneering flight
Throughout the 1930s, Earhart had become a highly admired public figure — America’s “First Woman of the Air.” By 1937, her plans to circumnavigate the globe in a highly-modified Lockheed L-10E Electra were finalized. On March 17, she took off from Oakland, Calif. on the first leg of the east-to-west flight. However, a landing gear failure in Hawaii led to a crash and the plane was shipped back to the United States for repair. The cost of the repairs severely strained George and Amelia’s finances. In order to complete the trip, they had a limited amount of funds in traveler’s checks and would have to depend on staying in embassies and the homes of admirers.
The second attempt took place on May 20 and due to a change in the wind patterns, this time they would be traveling from west to east. This ensured that the repaired Electra would be flying over land during the early stages of the flight in case anything went wrong, and it did. During a stopover in Tucson, Ariz., an engine caught fire.
However, the down side of this change in direction meant that the second-longest leg of the flight, across the Pacific, would require them, after 20 hours in the air, to find Howland Island, a mere mile long, half a mile wide and only 20 feet above the ocean.
The flight around the world went relatively smoothly, with the notable exception of the flight from South America to Africa. Aiming for Natal, Senegal when they overflew land, Earhart was shocked to realize that Fred Noonan had missed their target by 60 miles. Noonan had no explanation for the navigational error.
Ahead of them was their second longest and most difficult leg: a 2,256-mile flight over a portion of the Pacific Ocean that had never been overflown before. It was expected to take more than 22 hours of continuous flying. A group of American mechanics went over the plane from nose to tail and would later categorically deny there were any cameras mounted on the plane.
The Final Leg – July 1-2
Earhart’s Electra took off from Lae, New Guinea at 10 a.m. local time, loaded with 1,100 gallons of fuel. Because the grassy runway was short and ended in a steep drop-off to the ocean, Earhart revved the engines as much as she could before releasing the wheel brakes. Although the plane was airborne when it left the runway, it dipped to within about 10 feet of the water before leveling off and gaining speed. They would have to fly at a low altitude for some time before the heavily laden plane could gain altitude.
Unknown to them, the map they were using showed Howland Island 6 miles further west than it actually was. This would mean that Noonan might think they had overflown the island before they actually had.
The search
Once Earhart was confirmed overdue and believed to be down in the Pacific near Howland Island, the Itasca began a search. They were hampered by not having a clear idea of where the plane had gone down, but believed it was within 50 to 100 miles from the island. In what direction was anyone’s guess.
Amelia’s husband, George Putnam, announced to the press that the Electra could float for nine hours, and that their transmitter would work even in seawater. Neither were true. When Lockheed’s engineers were consulted they stated flatly that the plane could not survive a water landing. The comment about the transmitter still functioning unfortunately led to many hoax messages being reported, including the famous one about their having landed on a coral reef and were sending distress messages. No message from the Elektra was verified as genuine after the last one received by Itasca.
The expanded search
A week after the flyers were reported missing, the battleship Colorado and aircraft carrier Lexington arrived to join the search, both on the water and from the air. Ships from both the British and Japanese navies searched areas of the Pacific not covered by the Americans. Nothing was ever found, and the official search was finally called off on July 19. Not willing to give up, George Putnam financed his own private search, which also came up empty. Earhart and Noonan were eventually declared dead and Putnam remarried, still hoping Amelia would someday turn up.
Conclusions
Earhart’s flight was an ambitious one and had she succeeded she probably would have lived out the rest of her life as one of America’s most beloved heroes. Even though many in the aviation community believed the flight to be foolhardy, adventurous risk taking is usually viewed that way. A combination of bad luck, bad weather and poor communications caused a tragedy that is still remembered today.
Sources:
• “Amelia Earhart: The Mystery Solved,” by Elgen Long
• “East to the dawn: The life of Amelia Earhart,” by Susan Butler
• “Amelia Earhart: The sky's no limit,” by Lori Van Pelt
Howie Tune is a history writer living in Reno. He has a BA in American History from Wilkes University. You can contact him at hltune@aol.com.
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