The Disappearance of Amelia Earhart: A Cultural Phenomenon

During the World Flight

Amelia and Noonan started their second attempt at the World Flight in Oakland, California on June 1, 1937 in secret until they reached Miami, Florida where it was publicly announced. The original plan was to have Manning navigate until Australia, then Noonan would navigate until Howland Island  and then leave the rest of the flight up to Amelia. The first attempt’s failure was so severe it caused Manning to bail out leaving the current team with no trained radio operators. Amelia and Noonan continued the flight and had traveled 22,000 miles, stopping in Africa then to southeast Asia to end up in Lae, New Guinea before they would have to finish the last stretch across the Pacific Ocean. The U.S. Coast Guard had deployed the USCGC Itasca mainly to communicate and navigate Amelia but to also act as a ferry for civilians. Departing on July 2, 1937 their intended destination was Howland Island but the last signal was received near Nukumanu Island, only 800 miles from Lae, New Guinea. There had been communication problems and Noonan was unable to establish a two-way link with the USCGC Itasca. Noonan had stated previously that there were problems affecting the accuracy of radio direction finding. Another problem was that they were operating on time-systems that were a half-hour apart which disrupted their schedule for communication.  

During Earhart’s Round-the-World Flight, she had numerous stops in order to maintain an organized approach to traveling across the equator. This image shows the envelope which was sent to Ernest Crome by Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan during her specific stop from Darwin, Australia to Lae, New Guinea. The envelopes symbolized the marking of successful flight which Crome implemented as part of the program. In this, Crome would have his pilots sign the envelope and post it back to him. This is believed to be one of the last letters Earhart had sent before her disappearance from her final attempt of the 1937 World Flight.

Kelly Johnson, a Lockheed fuel cell engineer, had devised three telegrams and maintenance plans for Amelia prior to her World Flight which she used to calculate the amount of fuel she would need to reach Howland Island. He discussed the balance between power and fuel in order to have the best and efficient flight from California to Hawaii. It was estimated that Amelia would only need about 78.2% of Electra’s maximum fuel capacity which saved 1,500 pounds of weight. This photo was taken of Amelia when she arrived in Lae, New Guinea before her final take off. Just 800 miles from take off, she had been lost near Nukumanu island. 
 

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