Answering Your Questions About Earhart's Disappearance ... Except the Big One

The mystery of Amelia Earhart’s disappearance somewhere over the Pacific Ocean in July 1937 during her around-the-world flight attempt captured American imagination. Interest persists to the present day.  

Was Amelia Earhart The First Person to Attempt to Fly Around the World? 

No. Men had already circumnavigated the globe by air.  

A decade earlier in 1923, the U.S. Army Air Service organized the first flight around the world. Four planes took off, backed by a literal army of support, and still it was difficult. It took 175 days and only two of the four planes completed the journey.  

Wiley Post and his navigator Harold Gatty completed the first around-the-world solo flight in an airplane in June and July 1931.  

Earhart would have been the first woman to do so. She attempted the flight one time previously, but also had to stop at a similar point in the flight due to a crash. Her plane was sent for repairs.  

What Was Earhart’s Plane for Her Around-The-World Flight Like?

Earhart flew a Lockheed Electra for her around-the-world attempt. It was nicknamed the “Flying Laboratory” because Earhart considered it a test-bed for new equipment.  

Scholars have disagreed with Earhart, saying the plane was a poor pick for the flight and not adequately outfitted. For instance, for his around the world flight the following year, Howard Hughes outfitted his plane with a new averaging sextant, a new drift sight, new dead reckoning computers, a special observation portal, and a remarkable (and secret) line of position computer made by Fairchild-Maxson. 

 What Route Did Amelia Earhart Take to Fly Around the World?
Was It Dangerous?

Earhart planned to fly west to east around the world in a series of 34 legs. When she disappeared, she was on leg 31 of 34. Earhart and Noonan had covered 22,000 miles with 7,000 miles to go.  

Earhart selected a Southern route that most of her predecessors had avoided. By doing so, she sidestepped the poor weather often found from Siberia to Alaska. However, the long flights over open water made it essential that the aircraft have enough range (the maximum distance it could travel).

Earhart’s Lockheed Electra was an extremely attractive aircraft at that time for distance flying, but it did not have the range for the South Pacific. To counteract this, Earhart was forced to plan a stop on Howland Island. Howland Island was remote, isolated, and small—making it difficult to locate. Something that would turn disastrous for Earhart. 

Was Earhart Alone When She Disappeared?

Earhart was flying with navigator Fred Noonan. Earhart, like many other long-distance pilots, had limited navigation experience. Noonan was Pan American airways lead navigator for trans-pacific trials of the Flying Clipper.  

Originally, Earhart had planned to fly with two navigators: Noonan and Harry Manning. However, Earhart became dissatisfied with Manning and cut him from the trip. 

What Happened on the Day of Amelia Earhart’s Disappearance?  

Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan departed Lae, New Guinea, at 10 am local time on July 2, 1937. They planed a 2,556-mile, 18 hour flight east to Howland Island, to land on July 2 (local time on Howland Island, across the international date line).  

What Happened on the Day of Amelia Earhart’s Disappearance?  

Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan departed Lae, New Guinea, at 10 am local time on July 2, 1937. They planed a 2,556-mile, 18 hour flight east to Howland Island, to land on July 2 (local time on Howland Island, across the international date line).  

Howland Island is very small, only two miles long and one mile wide. However, refueling there was necessary because of the Electra’s limited range.  

The Coast Guard ship Itasca waited with fuel for the next leg of the journey. 

Starting at 2:45 am, radio operators on the Itasca begin to receive Earhart’s intermittent voice messages. Earhart's radio signal strength progressively increased, indicating that she was getting closer to Howland.

The Itasca received Earhart’s strongest radio voice signal at 7:58 am at a strength of 5+, very good reception. She was circling and searching and running low on fuel.  

At 8:43 am, the Itasca received another transmission at a strength of 5, still good reception. Earhart stated “We are on the line of position 156-137. Will repeat message. We will repeat this message on 6210 kilocycles. Wait. Listening on 6210 kilocycles. We are running north and south."

Then, no one heard from Earhart ever again. 

What May Have Gone Wrong?

Earhart’s disappearance has captivated people the world over for almost a century. We likely will never know what happened. However, we know one key thing didn’t happen.  

Earhart and the Itasca never made two-way voice or telegraph contact. This would have been helpful to guide the aviators in. It’s possible Earhart and Noonan never heard any of the Itasca’s transmissions.  

The Lockheed Electra was outfitted with a state-of-the-art Bendix direction finding radio. However, Earhart struggled with the new radio during the flight. 

Neither Earhart or Noonan knew Morse Code, which the crew of the Itasca did not know.  

How Did People Search for Earhart?

The U.S. government conducted its largest ever search for a lost aircraft.  

The search ended on July 19, when no trace of the Earhart, Noonan, or the Lockheed Electra aircraft were found.

Private individuals and groups have continued to look for Earhart. For instance, in 2024, 87 years after Earhart’s disappearance, a deep-water exploration company hoped they found her plane on sonar images. It turned out to be a rock formation.  

Earhart’s disappearance remains a mystery.