Amelia Earhart wanted to fly around the world. Although other pilots had circled the globe, she would fly close to the equator. This would make a longer and harder trip—29,000 miles.
A special plane was needed—a new Lockheed model called the Electra. The plane was large enough to carry ten passengers. But Amelia had the seats removed. Extra fuel tanks were put in. This allowed the plane to fly up to three thousand miles before stopping to refuel.
The Electra had new radio equipment. Amelia would be able to communicate by voice and code. It also had two engines that made it more complicated to fly. Amelia had to train with different pilots to learn how to fly it. It would take months to prepare for the trip.
Amelia and George hired two navigators to fly with Amelia. They would help Amelia stay on course.
The flight path would go from east to west. Amelia would take off from California and head toward Hawaii. On March 17, 1937, the Electra left Oakland, California. Amelia and her two navigators arrived in Honolulu about 16 hours later. The first leg of the trip was a success.
Then Amelia had an accident.
As Amelia was taking off from Honolulu, the plane lurched out of control. The landing gear collapsed. A wing was torn open. Luckily, no one was hurt. But the $100,000 plane was badly damaged. It had to be shipped back to Lockheed on the mainland. Almost two months went by before the plane was ready to fly again.
Because of the delay, one of the navigators could not continue the flight. That left only the other man—Fred Noonan.
There was also another change. Due to weather patterns, the flight path had to be reversed. Amelia would now fly from west to east. On May 21, Amelia left Oakland, California, and headed east to Miami, Florida. The whole world was watching.
The trip started off well. From Miami, Amelia flew to Puerto Rico. Then she flew along the east coast of South America to Venezuela, then on to Surinam and Brazil. The Electra was holding up well. But there was not much room to move around. Amelia communicated with Fred Noonan by passing notes on a fishing pole. It was better than climbing over the extra fuel tanks.
Amelia flew over forty hours and four thousand miles in the first week. And that was just the beginning. She flew over the Atlantic and crossed to Africa. Within three weeks she had flown twenty thousand miles in 135 hours. Amelia was getting tired. She would be glad when the long hours of flying were over.
By July 1, Amelia had reached New Guinea. From New Guinea she’d go to Howland Island and then to Honolulu, Hawaii. The next—and last—stop would be Oakland, California. There were only 7,000 miles left on the 29,000 mile trip. Most of these last miles were over the Pacific Ocean.
On July 2, Amelia took off from New Guinea. The trip to Howland was to take about 19 hours. Howland was a tiny island in the Pacific. It was only two miles long and three quarters of a mile wide. It would be very hard to find. But it was the only place to land and refuel. Amelia had to depend on Fred Noonan to spot the tiny strip of sand.
To help Amelia and Fred, a U.S. Coast Guard ship was sent to Howland. The ship would be waiting at the island. It would send out a signal to guide the Electra in for landing.
On July 2, Amelia took off from New Guinea. She had radio contact with New Guinea for the next seven hours. But then she went out of range. Amelia was supposed to reach Howland Island early the next morning. Throughout the night, the radiomen on the Coast Guard ship heard short messages from Amelia. But they could not tell how far out she was. The captain was worried. Amelia did not seem to hear their radio messages. And they couldn’t get a fix on her when she called in to them.
At 7:42 A.M., the radiomen on the Coast Guard ship got a brief message. Amelia said, “We must be on you but cannot see you and gas is running low. Been unable to reach you by radio.” Again, the Coast Guard tried to respond. However, it seemed that Amelia could still not hear them. They tried to locate her plane. But her messages were not long enough to do it.
At 8:45 A.M., one more message came in from Amelia. The last thing she said was “We are running north and south.” Amelia was frantically searching for Howland Island. But she never found it.
Right away a rescue mission was begun. More than four thousand men on ten ships searched the Pacific. Another 65 airplanes flew in to help search for Amelia and Fred.
So what happened? Did Amelia’s plane crash into the Pacific Ocean? Or was she able to land on some remote island? Neither Fred Noonan nor Amelia Earhart were ever found or heard from again.
The mystery captured the public’s imagination. For years after the plane’s disappearance, “news” stories would pop up. Some said Amelia was a prisoner of war. Others said she was alive and well, living on a remote island. But no story was ever proven true.
Even today, people are still looking for Amelia’s plane. An underwater robot submarine has scoured the Pacific Ocean floor where the Electra may have gone down. Search parties still occasionally hike through remote Pacific islands near Howland, hoping to find a clue in the overgrown jungles.
Who knows? Someday the remains of Amelia’s plane may be found. Whether that happens or not, it doesn’t change what Amelia Earhart did in her lifetime. She didn’t just fly planes. She didn’t just break records. She opened doors for women all over the world. She was a pioneer who said, “You can do anything you decide to do.” |