Radio Log of the Last Communications of Amelia Earhart
1 2020-05-14T05:02:15-07:00 teamamelia1937 2f9bfce6eb8d7d218d400b8f78c544c88dd65506 37307 1 This item is the original radio log of Amelia Earhart's last communications with the US Coast Guard cutter Itasca. Also included are notes and edits to the log by the radioman Leo G. Bellarts. plain 2020-05-14T05:02:15-07:00 teamamelia1937 2f9bfce6eb8d7d218d400b8f78c544c88dd65506This page is referenced by:
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Initial Disappearance
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During the last leg of the flight from Lae, New Guinea is when Amelia and Noonan disappeared. There was a noticeable problem throughout the flight with communication. USCGC Itasca was deployed to communicate with Amelia and assist in any way they could while doing regular reports during the flight. There were ongoing problems with communicating on different frequencies. Taking off from Lae, the control station was able to hear Amelia’s transmissions when operating at 6210 kHz but the transmission quality was low and the Itasca couldn’t even pick up any transmission. It was inferred that during take off their receiver had been damaged preventing high-frequency transmission. All the equipment the Itasca had prepared was for naught as nothing worked to safely guide Amelia to her destination.
These are the last radio logs between Amelia and the Itasca during her flight to Howland Island. During one of the transmissions, Amelia stated that they were low on fuel and were unable to hear any incoming transmissions so she requested a new frequency. The problem was that the Itasca couldn’t use that frequency which caused a dilemma with no way of communicating that problem so they opted for morse code. Amelia was able to receive the message but was unable to determine her direction since the radio direction frequency equipment also required a two-way link with the Itasca.
Just a day after Amelia had disappeared, a local radio operator had stated the SOS was from KHAQQ which is the codename for Amelia’s airplane. This sparked hope in the public since there may have been a chance Amelia had ditched her plane and used a raft to escape. This information was taken to officials in the military which they had stated they picked up no transmission. The bureau at Washington stated there was no way she could have survived on a raft due to the weather conditions at the time. All local radio operators were tuned into the frequency the SOS call came from and kept hope but it was assumed that officials did not take any action to find more information.
