Earhart: Famous. Fearless. Vanished.Episode 162:00
What the Silence Cannot Erase
The surviving evidence cannot solve Earhart's disappearance, but it can recover the purpose she wanted her final flight to serve.
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Transcript
At 8:43 a.m., the call sign KHAQQ went silent.
No plane or bodies were found, and no one was ever seen or heard from again.
By then, Amelia Earhart had crossed both the Atlantic and Pacific alone.
In 1932, she was first woman to pilot a solo nonstop Atlantic flight.
In 1932, an act of Congress gave Earhart the Distinguished Flying Cross.
it was reserved solely for military pilots.
Her flights also argued women should choose aviation and careers for themselves.
Earhart bought a twin-motored Lockheed Electra 10E to attempt her round-the-world flight.
First attempt toward Howland Island ended with aircraft damage, nobody was injured.
After repairs, Earhart changed planned direction and left Miami June 1st, 1937.
July 2nd, Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan left Lae, New Guinea, for Howland.
Howland lay 2,550 miles ahead; the Itasca waited offshore.
Earhart and Noonan reported receiving cutter's signals but couldn't get a minimum for a bearing.
6:14 a.m., aircraft reported 200 miles from Howland.
By 7:42 a.m., they couldn't see Itasca, fuel was running low.
Just before 8:00 a.m., crew reported circling, requested bearings.
At 8:43 a.m., Earhart transmitted one final position:
line 157-337, running north and south.
With no aircraft appearing, Itasca began searching the surrounding ocean.
Earhart told Roosevelt she undertook her flight to show what women could do.
The Navy and Coast Guard mounted the largest air-and-sea rescue search of that time.
National Archives' January 7th, 1939 report names Earhart a Marshall Islands prisoner.
The fate remains unresolved… so what can the surviving record still preserve?
Sources
- The Japanese Government’s Offer of Assistance to Help Find Amelia Earhart, July 1937 – The Text Messagetext-message.blogs.archives.govprimary
- Radio Log of the Last Communications of Amelia Earhart | National Archivesarchives.govprimary
- A Legacy Ended too Soon: The Mystery of Amelia Earhart – Education Updateseducation.blogs.archives.govsecondary
- Introduction - Amelia Earhart: A Resource Guide - Research Guides at Library of Congressguides.loc.govsecondary
- Amelia Earhart's Distinguished Flying Cross Award Card | National Archivesarchives.govprimary
- March | 2017 | Memoirs & Memoriesblogs.lib.purdue.edusecondary
- Amelia Earhart: Showing What Women Can Do – Pieces of Historyprologue.blogs.archives.govprimary
- Records Relating to Amelia Earhart | National Archivesarchives.govprimary
- Digital Resources - Amelia Earhart: A Resource Guide - Research Guides at Library of Congressguides.loc.govsecondary
- External Websites - Amelia Earhart: A Resource Guide - Research Guides at Library of Congressguides.loc.govsecondary
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