Earhart: Famous. Fearless. Vanished.Episode 121:33
The Search That Swallowed 250,000 Miles
A desperate cutter search expands into the largest air-and-sea rescue effort of its time.
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Transcript
By July 2nd, 1937, the Pacific had swallowed the flight's last reliable signal.
Near Howland Island, the cutter Itasca waited to guide Earhart by radio.
From Lae, New Guinea, Earhart and Fred Noonan flew 2,550 miles toward Howland.
At 7:42 a.m., they could not see the ship, and fuel was running low.
The crew reported trouble communicating by radio, then circled and requested bearings.
On the Itasca, the Coast Guard crew kept listening. I still hear nothing.
At 8:43 a.m., KHAQQ reported line 157-337, running north and south.
That transmission was the last the Itasca heard from either flyer.
The Itasca began a search; the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard conducted an air-and-sea search.
The naval search covered more than 250,000 square miles around Howland Island.
The reported line gave searchers a north-south reference, but no confirmed position.
On July 18th, the Navy announced the search would end at sunset. Authorities said they had exhausted every possible hope of finding them.
Japan’s Embassy offered assistance, and officials conveyed their appreciation.
Where it leaves off
Japan instructed survey ship Koshu to join the search. Then Japan offered ships and continuous radio watch to help search the Pacific for Earhart.
Sources
- The Japanese Government’s Offer of Assistance to Help Find Amelia Earhart, July 1937 – The Text Messagetext-message.blogs.archives.govsecondary
- Radio Log of the Last Communications of Amelia Earhart | National Archivesarchives.govprimary
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