Amelia Earhart, no disappearance?
Amelia Earhart was born in Atchison, Kansas on July 24, 1897. She was the daughter of Samuel "Edwin" Stanton Earhart and Amelia "Amy" Otis Earhart. Amelia had a younger sister named Muriel.
Amelia's childhood was marked by frequent moves, as her father's job as a lawyer and a railroad claims agent required the family to move from town to town. Despite the constant upheaval, Amelia was a good student and showed an early interest in aviation. At age 10, she saw her first airplane at a state fair and was immediately fascinated by the idea of flying.
After the death of her grandparents, the family struggled financially amid her father’s alcoholism. The Earharts moved often, and she completed high school in Chicagoin 1916. After her mother received her inheritance, Earhart was able to attend the Ogontz School in Rydal, Pennsylvania In 1917, a prestigious finishing school in Pennsylvania. After completing her education, she worked as a nurse's aide in a military hospital in Toronto, Canada, during World War I. During this time, she first became interested in flying, after watching wounded soldiers being transported by plane.
After the war, Earhart entered the premed program at Columbia University in New York Citybut left in 1920 after her parents insisted that she live with them in California. There she went on her first airplane ride in 1920, an experience that prompted her to take flying lessons. In 1921 she bought her first plane, a Kinner Airster, and two years later she earned her pilot’s license. Harriet Quimby
In the mid-1920s Earhart moved to Massachusetts, where she became a social worker at the Denison House, a settlement home for immigrants in Boston. She also continued to pursue her interest in aviation.
During this time promoters sought to have a woman fly across the Atlantic Ocean, and in April 1928 Earhart was selected for the flight. Some speculated that the decision was partly based on her resemblance to Charles Lindbergh, who had become the first man to fly nonstop solo across the Atlantic the previous year. On June 17, 1928, Earhart departed Trepassey, Newfoundland, Canada, as a passenger aboard a seaplane piloted by Wilmer Stultz and Louis Gordon. After landing at Burry Port, Wales, on June 18, Earhart became an international celebrity.
Determined to justify the renown that her 1928 crossing had brought her, Earhart crossed the Atlantic alone on May 20–21, 1932. Her flight in her Lockheed Vega from Harbour Grace, Newfoundland, to Londonderry, Northern Ireland, was completed in a record time of 14 hours 56 minutes despite a number of problems. She notably experienced mechanical difficulties and inclement weather and was unable to land in her scheduled destination of Paris. Afterward she published The Fun of It (1932), in which she wrote about her life and interest in flying. Earhart then undertook a series of flights across the United States.
In addition to her piloting feats, Earhart was known for encouraging women to reject constrictive social norms and to pursue various opportunities, especially in the field of aviation. In 1929 she helped found an organization of female pilots that later became known as the Ninety-Nines. Earhart served as its first president. In addition, she debuted a functional clothing line in 1933, which was designed “for the woman who lives actively.”
Amelia Earhart married publisher George P. Putnam on February 7, 1931. She was a reluctant bride, fearing that marriage would derail her career. Earhart kept her last name and insisted on an equal partnership with her husband. Putnam agreed and the couple's relationship was professional as much as it was romantic. Earhart's husband supported her aviation activities and promoted them vigorously.
In 1935 Earhart made history with the first solo flight from Hawaii to California, a hazardous route 2,408 miles (3,875 km) long, a longer distance than that from the United States to Europe. She departed from Honolulu on January 11 and, after 17 hours and 7 minutes, landed in Oakland the following day. Later that year she became the first person to fly solo from Los Angeles to Mexico City.
In 1937, Amelia embarked on her most ambitious flight yet - an attempt to fly worldwide. On July 2, she and her navigator, Fred Noonan, took off from Lae, New Guinea, on the final leg of their journey. They were never seen again, and their disappearance remains
The Tragedy
In 1937 Earhart set out to fly around the world, with Fred Noonan as her navigator, in a twin-engine Lockheed Electra. On June 1 the duo began their 29,000-mile (47,000-km) journey, departing from Miami and heading east. Over the following weeks they made various refueling stops before reaching Lae, New Guinea, on June 29. At that point, Earhart and Noonan had traveled some 22,000 miles (35,000 km).
They departed on July 2, headed for Howland Island, approximately 2,600 miles (4,200 km) away. The flight was expected to be arduous, especially since the tiny coral atoll was difficult to locate. To help with navigation, two brightly lit U.S. ships were stationed to mark the route. Earhart was also in intermittent radio contact with the Itasca, a U.S. Coast Guard cutter near Howland. Late in the journey, Earhart radioed that the plane was running out of fuel. About an hour later she announced, “We are running north and south.” That was the last transmission received by the Itasca. The plane was believed to have gone down some 100 miles (160 km) from the island, and an extensive search was undertaken to find Earhart and Noonan. However, on July 19, 1937, the operation was called off, and the pair was declared lost at sea.
The Official Story
The official explanation for Amelia Earhart's disappearance is that her plane ran out of fuel and crashed into the Pacific Ocean. The US Navy and Coast Guard launched a massive search effort in the days and weeks following her disappearance, but no wreckage or debris from her plane was ever found. The search was eventually called off, and Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, were declared lost at sea.
However, this explanation has been the subject of much controversy and speculation over the years, with many people questioning the official version of events.
Theories and Evidence
One theory that has gained much traction over the years is that the Japanese captured Earhart and Noonan. According to this theory, they crashed their plane in the Marshall Islands, which were then under Japanese control, and were taken prisoner by the Japanese military. Evidence supporting this theory includes radio signals allegedly sent by Earhart from the Marshall Islands and reports from local residents who claimed to have seen Earhart and Noonan in Japanese custody.
Another theory is that Earhart and Noonan survived the crash and were stranded on a deserted island. Several expeditions have been made to search for evidence of this theory, including one led by the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR). TIGHAR has found several artifacts on the island of Nikumaroro, located in the Pacific near where Earhart's plane was last seen. These artifacts include a piece of metal that may have come from Earhart's plane and human bones found on the island in 1940 and which have since been lost.
NBC Report Credible Amelia Earhart radio signals were ignored as bogus
Dozens of previously dismissed radio signals were actually credible transmissions from Amelia Earhart, according to a new study.
"Amelia Earhart did not simply vanish on July 2, 1937. Radio distress calls believed to have been sent from the missing plane dominated the headlines and drove much of the U.S. Coast Guard and Navy search," Ric Gillespie, executive director of TIGHAR, told Discovery News.
"When the search failed, all of the reported post-loss radio signals were categorically dismissed as bogus and have been largely ignored ever since," he added.
Earhart used radio transmissions on her last flight on July 2, 1937, during her record attempt to fly around the world at the equator.
At 07:42 local time, as she flew toward the target destination, Howland Island in the Pacific, with her navigator Fred Noonan, Earhart called the Coast Guard cutter Itasca, stationed at Howland Island to support her flight.
“We must be on you, but cannot see you — but gas is running low. Have been unable to reach you by radio. We are flying at 1,000 feet,” she said.
Earhart's final in-flight radio message occurred a hour later, at 08:43.
“We are on the line 157 337. We will repeat this message. We will repeat this on 6210 kilocycles. Wait,” she said.
According to TIGHAR, the numbers 157 and 337 refer to compass headings — 157 degrees and 337 degrees — and describe a navigation line that passed not only Howland Island, the target destination, but also Gardner Island, now called Nikumaroro.
This uninhabited atoll in the southwestern Pacific republic of Kiribati is where TIGHAR believes Earhart and Noonan landed safely and ultimately died as castaways.
Although several of the analyzed post-loss signal reports were determined to be hoaxes, Gillespie ruled out the hypothesis of an illegal transmitter "given the numerous constraints militating against successfully perpetrating a signal transmission hoax."
"We do not really have hoax transmissions but rather reports from people who, for whatever reason, claimed to have heard something they did not hear," Gillespie said
According to Gillespie, at least four radio signals are of particular interest, as they were simultaneously heard by more than one station.
The first signal, made when the pilot had been officially missing for just five hours, was received by the Itasca, and two other ships, the HMS Achilles and the SS New Zealand Star.
The Itasca logged, “We hear her on 3105 now — very weak and unreadable/ fone” and asked Earhart to send Morse code dashes.
The Achilles did not hear “very weak and unreadable” voice, but heard Itasca’s request and heard dashes in response. The SS New Zealand only heard the response dashes.
In other cases, credible sources in widely separated locations in the U.S., Canada and the central Pacific, reported hearing a woman requesting help. She spoke English, and in some cases said she was identified as Amelia Earhart.
In one case, on July 5, the U.S. Navy Radio at Wailupe, Honolulu heard a garbled Morse code: “281 north Howland - call KHAQQ - beyond north — won’t hold with us much longer — above water — shut off.”
At the same time, an amateur radio operator in Melbourne, Australia, reported having heard a "strange” code which included KHAQQ, Amelia's call sign.
According to Gillespie, the reanalysis of the credible post-loss signals supports the hypothesis that they were sent by Earhart’s Electra from a point on the reef at Nikumaroro, about a quarter-mile north of the shipwreck of the British freighter SS Norwich City.
"The results of the study show a body of evidence which might be the forgotten key to the mystery. It is the elephant in the room that has gone unacknowledged for nearly 75 years," said Gillespie.
Conclusion
Despite these and other theories, no conclusive evidence supports any of them. Amelia Earhart’s disappearance continues to fascinate people worldwide, and many researchers and amateur investigators continue to search for clues and evidence that might help solve the case. While some theories and evidence have been presented over the years, none have conclusively proven what happened to Earhart and Noonan on that fateful flight in 1937. Until new evidence comes to light, the fate of Amelia Earhart will remain one of the great unsolved mysteries of aviation history.
Amelia Earhart's life was full of adventure, achievement, and tragedy. Her legacy as a pioneering aviator and advocate for women's rights continues to inspire people today, and her story remains one of the most fascinating and enduring mysteries of the 20th century. We honor Ameila Earhart, women in aviation, and all women this women`s history month.
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