Amelia Mary Earhart (/ˈɛərhɑːrt/AIR-hart; born July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937; declared dead January 5, 1939) was an Americanaviation pioneer. On July 2, 1937, she disappeared over thePacific Ocean while attempting to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate the world. During her life, Earhart embraced celebrity culture and women's rights, and since her disappearance has become a global cultural figure. She was the first female pilot to fly solo non-stop across theAtlantic Ocean and set many other records.[2] She was one of the first aviators to promote commercial air travel, wrote best-selling books about her flying experiences, and was instrumental in the formation ofThe Ninety-Nines, an organization for female pilots.[3]
Earhart was born and raised inAtchison, Kansas, and developed a passion for adventure at a young age, steadily gaining flying experience from her twenties. In 1928, she became a celebrity after becoming the first female passenger to cross the Atlantic by airplane. In 1932, she became the first woman to make a nonstop solo transatlantic flight, and was awarded theDistinguished Flying Cross for her achievement.[4] In 1935, she became a visiting faculty member ofPurdue University as an advisor in aeronautical engineering and a career counselor to female students. She was a member of theNational Woman's Party and an early supporter of theEqual Rights Amendment.[5][6] She was one of the most inspirational American figures from the late 1920s and throughout the 1930s. Her legacy is often compared to that of the early career of pioneer aviatorCharles Lindbergh, as well as First LadyEleanor Roosevelt, for their close friendship and lasting influence on women's causes.
In 1937, during an attempt to become the first woman to complete acircumnavigational flight of the globe, flying aLockheed Model 10-E Electra airplane, Earhart and her navigatorFred Noonan disappeared nearHowland Island in the central Pacific Ocean. The two were last seen inLae, New Guinea, their last land stop before Howland Island, a very small location where they were intending to refuel. It is generally believed that they ran out of fuel before they found Howland Island and crashed into the ocean near their destination.[7] Nearly one year and six months after she and Noonan disappeared, Earhart was officially declared dead.
The mysterious nature of Earhart's disappearance has caused much public interest in her life. Her airplane has never been found, which has led tospeculation and conspiracy theories about the outcome of the flight. Decades after her presumed death, Earhart was inducted into theNational Aviation Hall of Fame in 1968 and theNational Women's Hall of Fame in 1973. Several commemorative memorials in the United States have been named in her honor; these include a commemorative US airmail stamp, an airport, a museum, a bridge, a cargo ship, an earth-fill dam, a playhouse, a library, and multiple roads and schools. She also has aminor planet,planetary corona, and newly discoveredlunar crater named after her. Numerous films, documentaries, and books have recounted Earhart's life, and she is ranked ninth onFlying's list of the 51 Heroes of Aviation.[8]
Amelia Mary Earhart was born on July 24, 1897, inAtchison, Kansas, as the daughter of Samuel "Edwin" Stanton Earhart (1867–1930) and Amelia "Amy" (néeOtis; 1869–1962).[9] Amelia was born in thehome of her maternal grandfather Alfred Gideon Otis (1827–1912), who was a former judge in Kansas, the president of Atchison Savings Bank, and a leading resident of the town.[10] Earhart was the second child of the marriage after a stillbirth in August 1896.[11] She was of part-German descent; Alfred Otis had not initially favored the marriage and was not satisfied with Edwin's progress as a lawyer.[12]
According to family custom, Amelia Earhart was named after her two grandmothers Amelia Josephine Harres and Mary Wells Patton.[11] From an early age, Amelia was the dominant sibling while her sisterGrace Muriel Earhart (1899–1998), two years her junior, acted as a dutiful follower.[13] Amelia was nicknamed "Meeley" and sometimes "Millie", and Grace was nicknamed "Pidge"; both girls continued to answer to their childhood nicknames well into adulthood.[11] Their upbringing was unconventional; Amy Earhart did not believe in raising her children to be "nice little girls".[14] The children's maternal grandmother disapproved of thebloomers they wore, and although Amelia liked the freedom of movement they provided, she was sensitive to the fact the neighborhood's girls wore dresses.
Amelia Earhart as a child
The Earhart children seemed to have a spirit of adventure and would set off daily to explore their neighborhood.[15] As a child, Amelia Earhart spent hours playing with sister Pidge, climbing trees, hunting rats with a rifle, and sledding downhill.[16] Some biographers have characterized the young Amelia as atomboy.[17] The girls kept worms, moths,katydids and atree toad they gathered in a growing collection.[18] In 1904, with the help of her uncle, Amelia Earhart constructed a home-made ramp that was fashioned after a roller coaster she had seen on a trip toSt. Louis, Missouri, and secured it to the roof of the family tool shed. Following Amelia's well-documented first flight, she emerged from the broken wooden box that had served as a sled with a bruised lip, a torn dress and a "sensation of exhilaration", saying: "Oh, Pidge, it's just like flying!"[12]
In 1907, Edwin Earhart's job as a claims officer for theRock Island Railroad led to a transfer toDes Moines, Iowa. The next year, at the age of 10,[19] Amelia saw her firstaircraft atIowa State Fair in Des Moines.[20][21] Their father tried to interest his daughters in taking a flight but after looking at the rickety "flivver", Amelia promptly asked if they could go back to the merry-go-round.[22] She later described the biplane as "a thing of rusty wire and wood and not at all interesting".[23]
Education
Sisters Amelia and Grace—who from her teenage years went by her middle name Muriel—Earhart remained with their grandparents in Atchison while their parents moved into new, smaller quarters in Des Moines. During this period, the Earhart girls received homeschooling from their mother and a governess. Amelia later said she was "exceedingly fond of reading"[24] and spent many hours in the large family library. In 1909, when the family was reunited in Des Moines, the Earhart children were enrolled in public school for the first time and Amelia, 12, entered seventh grade.[25]
Amelia Earhart in evening clothes
The Earhart family's finances seemingly improved with the acquisition of a new house and the hiring of two servants but it soon became apparent Edwin was an alcoholic. In 1914, he was forced to retire; he attempted to rehabilitate himself through treatment but the Rock Island Railroad never reinstated him. At about this time, Earhart's grandmother Amelia Otis died, leaving a substantial estate that placed her daughter's share in a trust, fearing Edwin's drinking would exhaust the funds. The Otis house was auctioned along with its contents; Amelia later described these events as the end of her childhood.[26]
In 1915, after a long search, Edwin Earhart found work as a clerk at theGreat Northern Railway in St. Paul, Minnesota, where Amelia enteredCentral High School as a junior. Edwin applied for a transfer toSpringfield, Missouri, in 1915, but the current claims officer reconsidered his retirement and demanded his job back, leaving Edwin Earhart unemployed. Amy Earhart took her children to Chicago, where they lived with friends. Amelia canvassed nearby high schools in Chicago to find the best science program; she rejected the high school nearest her home, complaining the chemistry lab was "just like a kitchen sink".[27] She eventually enrolled inHyde Park High School but spent a miserable semester for which a yearbook caption noted: "A.E.—the girl in brown who walks alone".[28]
Amelia Earhart graduated from Hyde Park High School in 1916.[29] Throughout her childhood, she had continued to aspire to a future career; she kept a scrapbook of newspaper clippings about successful women in male-dominated careers, including film direction and production, law, advertising, management, and mechanical engineering.[19] She began junior college atOgontz School inRydal, Pennsylvania, but did not complete her program.[30][31]
Nursing career and illness
During Christmas vacation in 1917, Earhart visited her sister inToronto, Canada, where she saw wounded soldiers returning fromWorld War I. After receiving training as anurse's aide from theRed Cross, Earhart began working with theVoluntary Aid Detachment atSpadina Military Hospital, where her duties included food preparation for patients with special diets and handing out prescribed medication in the hospital's dispensary.[32][33] There, Earhart heard stories from military pilots and developed an interest in flying.[34][35]
In 1918, when the 1918Spanish flu pandemic reached Toronto, Earhart was engaged in nursing duties that included night shifts at Spadina Military Hospital.[36][37] In early November that year, she became infected and was hospitalized for pneumonia andmaxillarysinusitis. She was discharged in December 1918, about two months later.[36] Hersinus-related symptoms were pain and pressure around one eye, and copious mucus drainage via the nostrils and throat.[38] While staying in the hospital during thepre-antibiotic era, Earhart had painful minor operations to wash out the affected maxillary sinus[36][37][38] but these procedures were not successful and her headaches worsened. Earhart's convalescence lasted nearly a year, which she spent at her sister's home inNorthampton, Massachusetts.[37] Earhart passed the time reading poetry, learning to play the banjo, and studying mechanics.[36] Chronic sinusitis significantly affected Earhart's flying and other activities in later life,[38] and sometimes she was forced to wear a bandage on her cheek to cover a small drainage tube.[39]
By 1919, Earhart prepared to enterSmith College, where her sister was a student,[40][41] but she changed her mind and enrolled in a course of medical studies and other programs atColumbia University.[42] Earhart quit her studies a year later to be with her parents, who had reunited in California.
Early flying experiences
Earhart in her first training plane, 1920
In the early 1920s, Earhart and a young woman friend visited an air fair held in conjunction with theCanadian National Exhibition in Toronto; she said: "The interest, aroused in me, in Toronto, led me to all the air circuses in the vicinity."[43] One of the highlights of the day was a flying exhibition put on by a World War Iace.[44] The pilot saw Earhart and her friend, who were watching from an isolated clearing, and dived at them. "I am sure he said to himself, 'Watch me make them scamper,' " she said. Earhart stood her ground as the aircraft came close. "I did not understand it at the time," she said, "but I believe that little red airplane said something to me as it swished by."[45]
On December 28, 1920, Earhart and her father attended an "aerial meet"[46] atDaugherty Field inLong Beach, California. She asked her father to ask about passenger flights and flying lessons.[43] Earhart was booked for a passenger flight the following day atEmory Roger's Field, at the corner[47] ofWilshire Boulevard andFairfax Avenue.[43] A 10-minute flight withFrank Hawks, who later gained fame as anair racer, cost $10 (equivalent to $160 in 2024). The ride with Hawkes changed Earhart's life; she said: "By the time I had got two or three hundred feet [60–90 m] off the ground ... I knew I had to fly."[48]
The next month, Earhart engagedNeta Snook to be her flying instructor. The initial contract was for 12 hours of instruction for $500 (equivalent to $9,000 in 2024).[43] Working at a variety of jobs, including photographer, truck driver, andstenographer at the local telephone company, Earhart saved $1,000 (equivalent to $18,000 in 2024) for flying lessons; she had her first lesson on January 3, 1921, atKinner Field on the west side of Long Beach Boulevard and Tweedy Road,[46] now in the city ofSouth Gate. Snook used a crash-salvagedCurtiss JN-4 "Canuck" airplane she had restored for training. To reach the airfield, Earhart had to take a bus then walk four miles (6.4 km). Earhart's mother provided part of the $1,000 "stake" against her "better judgement".[51] Earhart cropped her hair short in the style of other female flyers.[52] Six months later, in mid 1921 and against Snook's advice, Earhart purchased a secondhand,chromium yellowKinner Airster biplane,[43] which she nicknamed "The Canary". After her first successful solo landing, she bought a new leather flying coat.[43] Due to the newness of the coat, she was subjected to teasing, so she aged it by sleeping in it and staining it with aircraft oil.[43]
On October 22, 1922, Earhart flew the Airster to an altitude of 14,000 feet (4,300 m), setting a world record for female pilots.[53] On May 16, 1923, Earhart became the 16th woman in the United States to be issued a pilot's license (#6017)[54] by theFédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI).[55]
Financial problems and move to Massachusetts
Throughout the early 1920s, following a disastrous investment in a failedgypsum mine, Amelia Earhart's inheritance from her grandmother, which her mother was now administering, steadily diminished until it was exhausted. Consequently, with no immediate prospect of recouping her investment in flying, Earhart sold the Canary and a second Kinner and bought a yellowKissel Gold Bug "Speedster", a two-seat automobile, and named it "Yellow Peril". Simultaneously, pain from Earhart's old sinus problem worsened, and in early 1924, she was hospitalized for another sinus operation, which was again unsuccessful. She tried a number of ventures that included setting up a photography company.[56]
Following her parents' divorce in 1924, Earhart drove her mother in "Yellow Peril" on a transcontinental trip from California with stops throughout the western United States and northward toBanff, Alberta, Canada. Their journey ended inBoston,Massachusetts, where Earhart underwent another, more-successful sinus operation. After recuperation, she returned to Columbia University for several months but was forced to abandon her studies and any further plans for enrolling at theMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), because her mother could no longer afford the tuition fees and associated costs. In 1925, Earhart found employment first as a teacher, then as asocial worker atDenison House, a Bostonsettlement house.[57] At this time, she lived inMedford, Massachusetts.
When Earhart lived in Medford, she maintained her interest in aviation, becoming a member of the American Aeronautical Society's Boston chapter and eventually being elected its vice president.[58] She flew out ofDennison Airport inQuincy, helped finance the airport's operation by investing a small sum of money,[59] and in 1927, she flew the first official flight out of Dennison Airport.[60] Earhart worked as a sales representative for Kinner Aircraft in the Boston area and wrote local-newspaper columns promoting flying; as her local celebrity grew, Earhart made plans to launch an organization for female flyers.[61]
Aviation career and marriage
First woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean in 1928
Amelia Earhart prior to her transatlantic crossing of June 17, 1928
In 1928, Earhart became the first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean in an airplane. The project coordinators included publisher and publicistGeorge P. Putnam, who later became her husband. She was a passenger, with the plane flown byWilmer Stultz and copilot/mechanic Louis Gordon. On June 17, 1928, the team departed fromTrepassey Harbor,Newfoundland, in aFokker F.VIIb/3m namedFriendship and landed atPwll nearBurry Port, South Wales, exactly 20 hours and 40 minutes later.[62] The flight duration became the title to her book about the expedition20 Hrs. 40 Min.
Earhart had no training on this type of aircraft and did not pilot the plane. When interviewed after landing, she said: "Stultz did all the flying—had to. I was just baggage, like a sack of potatoes ... maybe someday I'll try it alone."[63] Despite her feeling, she gained international attention from the press and was greeted like a heroine.[64]
On June 19, 1928, Earhart flew toWoolston, Southampton, England, where she received a rousing welcome.[65][page needed] She had changed aircraft and flew anAvro Avian 594 Avian III, SN: R3/AV/101 that was owned by Irish aviatorLady Mary Heath, the first woman to hold a commercial flying licence in Britain. Earhart later acquired the aircraft and had it shipped to the United States.[66]
When Earhart became famous, the press dubbed her "Lady Lindy", because of her physical resemblance to the famous male aviatorCharles Lindbergh[68][69] and "Queen of the Air".[70] Immediately after her return to the United States, Earhart undertook an exhausting lecture tour in 1928 and 1929. Putnam had undertaken to heavily promote Earhart in a campaign that included publishing a book she wrote, a series of new lecture tours, and using pictures of her in media endorsements for products including luggage. ALucky Strike cigarettes endorsement causedMcCall's magazine to retract their offer.[71] The money Earhart made from Lucky Strike had been intended to supportRichard Evelyn Byrd's imminent expedition to the South Pole.[71]
The marketing campaign by both Earhart and Putnam was successful in establishing the Earhart mystique in the public psyche.[72] Rather than simply endorsing the products, Earhart became involved in the promotions, especially in women's fashions. The "active living" lines that were sold in stores such asMacy's were an expression of Earhart's new image.[73] Her concept of simple, natural lines matched with wrinkle-proof, washable materials was the embodiment of a sleek, purposeful, but feminine "A.E.", the familiar name she used with family and friends.[70][74] Celebrity endorsements helped Earhart finance her flying.[75]
Earhart accepted a position as associate editor atCosmopolitan and used it to campaign for greater public acceptance of aviation, especially focusing on the role of women entering the field.[76] In 1929,Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT) appointed Earhart andMargaret Bartlett Thornton to promote air travel, particularly for women,[77] and Earhart helped set up theLudington Airline, the first regional shuttle service between New York and Washington, D.C. Earhart was appointed Vice President of National Airways, which operatedBoston-Maine Airways and several other airlines in the northeastern US, and by 1940 had becomeNortheast Airlines.[78] In 1934, Earhart interceded on behalf ofIsabel Ebel, who had helped Earhart in 1932, to be accepted as the first woman student of aeronautical engineering atNew York University (NYU).[79]
Competitive flying
In August 1928, Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the North American continent and back.[80] Her piloting skills and professionalism gradually grew, and she was acknowledged by experienced professional pilots who flew with her. General Leigh Wade, who flew with Earhart in 1929, said: "She was a born flier, with a delicate touch on the stick."[81]
Earhart made her first attempt at competitive air racing in 1929 during the first Santa Monica-to-ClevelandWomen's Air Derby (nicknamed the "Powder Puff Derby" byWill Rogers), which leftSanta Monica, California, on August 18 and arrived atCleveland, Ohio, on August 26. During the race, Earhart settled into fourth place in the "heavy planes" division. At the second-to-last stop at Columbus, Earhart's friendRuth Nichols, who was in third place, had an accident; her aircraft hit a tractor and flipped over, forcing her out of the race.[82] At Cleveland, Earhart was placed third in the heavy division.[83][84]
During this period, Earhart became involved withNinety-Nines, an organization of female pilots providing moral support and advancing the cause of women in aviation. In 1929, following the Women's Air Derby, Earhart called a meeting of female pilots. She suggested the name based on the number of the charter members, and became the organization's first president in 1930.[3] Earhart was a vigorous advocate for female pilots; when the 1934Bendix Trophy Race banned women from competing, Earhart refused to fly screen actorMary Pickford to Cleveland to open the race.[92]
Marriage to George Putnam
Earhart and Putnam in 1931
Earhart married her public relations managerGeorge P. Putnam on February 7, 1931, in Putnam's mother's house inNoank, Connecticut, in what has been described as amarriage of convenience.[93] Earhart had been engaged to Samuel Chapman, a chemical engineer from Boston, but she broke off the engagement on November 23, 1928.[94] Putnam, who was known as GP, was divorced in 1929 and sought out Earhart, proposing to her six times before she agreed to marry him. Earhart referred to her marriage as a "partnership" with "dual control"; in a letter to Putnam and hand-delivered to him on the day of the wedding, she wrote:
I want you to understand I shall not hold you to any midaevil [sic] code of faithfulness to me nor shall I consider myself bound to you similarly ... I may have to keep some place where I can go to be by myself, now and then, for I cannot guarantee to endure at all times the confinement of even an attractive cage.[95][96][97]
Earhart's ideas on marriage were liberal for the time; she believed in equal responsibilities for both breadwinners and kept her own name rather than being referred to as "Mrs. Putnam". WhenThe New York Times referred to her as "Mrs. Putnam", she laughed it off. Putnam also learned he would be called "Mr. Earhart".[98] There was no honeymoon for the couple because Earhart was involved in a nine-day, cross-country tour promoting autogyros and the tour's sponsor Beech-Nut chewing gum. Earhart and Putnam never had children but Putnam had two sons—the explorer and writer David Binney Putnam (1913–1992), and George Palmer Putnam Jr. (1921–2013)—from his previous marriage toDorothy Binney (1888–1982),[99] an heir to her father's chemical companyBinney & Smith.[100][101]
Transatlantic solo flight in 1932
Earhart walking with President Herbert Hoover in the grounds of the White House on January 2, 1932
On May 20, 1932, 34-year-old Earhart set off fromHarbour Grace,Newfoundland, with a copy of theTelegraph-Journal, given to her by journalistStuart Trueman[102] to confirm the date of the flight.[102] She intended to fly to Paris in her single engineLockheed Vega 5B to emulate Charles Lindbergh's solo flight five years earlier.[103][a] Her technical advisor for the flight was the Norwegian-American aviatorBernt Balchen, who helped prepare her aircraft and played the role of "decoy" for the press because he was ostensibly preparing Earhart's Vega for his own Arctic flight.[106] After a flight lasting 14 hours, 56 minutes, during which she contended with strong northerly winds, icy conditions and mechanical problems, Earhart landed in a pasture atCulmore, north ofDerry, Northern Ireland. The landing was witnessed by Cecil King and T. Sawyer. When a farm hand asked, "Have you flown far?" Earhart replied, "From America."[107][108]
As the first woman to fly solo nonstop across the Atlantic, Earhart received theDistinguished Flying Cross fromCongress, the Cross of Knight of theLegion of Honor from theFrench Government, and the Gold Medal of theNational Geographic Society[109] from PresidentHerbert Hoover. As her fame grew, Earhart developed friendships with many people in high office, most notably First LadyEleanor Roosevelt, who shared many of Earhart's interests, especially women's causes. After flying with Earhart, Roosevelt obtained a student permit but did not further pursue her plans to learn to fly. Earhart and Roosevelt frequently communicated with each other.[110] Another flyer,Jacqueline Cochran, who was said to be Earhart's rival, also became her confidante during this period.[111]
Additional solo flights
Newsreel of Earhart flying from Honolulu, Hawaii, to Oakland, California in 1935
On January 11, 1935, Earhart became the first aviator to fly solo fromHonolulu, Hawaii, toOakland, California.[112][113][114] This time, Earhart used a Lockheed 5C Vega.[115] Although many aviators had attempted this transoceanic route, notably by the unfortunate participants in the 1927Dole Air Race that had reversed the route, Earhart's[116] flight had been mainly routine with no mechanical breakdowns. In her final hours, she relaxed and listened to "the broadcast of the Metropolitan Opera from New York".[116]
On April 19, 1935, using her Lockheed Vega aircraft that she had named "old Bessie, the fire horse",[b][118] Earhart flew solo from Los Angeles to Mexico City. Earhart's next record attempt was a nonstop flight from Mexico City to New York. After she set off on May 8, her flight was uneventful, although large crowds that greeted her atNewark, New Jersey, were a concern,[119] because she had to be careful not to taxi into them.
Earhart again participated in the 1935Bendix Trophy long-distance air race, finishing fifth, the best result she could manage because her stock Lockheed Vega, whose maximum speed was 195 mph (314 km/h), was outclassed by purpose-built aircraft that reached more than 300 mph (480 km/h).[120] The race had been difficult because a competitor, Cecil Allen, died in a fire at takeoff, andJacqueline Cochran was forced to pull out due to mechanical problems. In addition, "blinding fog"[121] and violent thunderstorms plagued the race.
Between 1930 and 1935, Earhart set seven women's speed-and-distance aviation records in a variety of aircraft, including the Kinner Airster, Lockheed Vega, and Pitcairn Autogiro. By 1935, recognizing the limitations of her "lovely red Vega" in long, transoceanic flights, Earhart contemplated a new "prize ... one flight which I most wanted to attempt—a circumnavigation of the globe as near its waistline as could be."[122] For the new venture, she would need a new aircraft.
In late November 1934, while Earhart was away on a speaking tour, a fire broke out at the Putnam residence in Rye, destroying many family treasures and Earhart's personal mementos.[123] Putnam had already sold his interest in the New York-based publishing company to his cousinPalmer Putnam. Following the fire, the couple decided to move to the west coast, where Putnam took up his new position as head of the editorial board ofParamount Pictures inNorth Hollywood.[124]
In September 1935, Earhart andPaul Mantz established a business partnership they had been considering since late 1934, and established the short-lived Earhart-Mantz Flying School, which Mantz controlled and operated through his aviation company United Air Services, which was based atBurbank Airport. Putnam handled publicity for the school, which primarily taught instrument flying usingLink Trainers.[127] Also in 1935, Earhart joinedPurdue University as a visiting faculty member to counsel women on careers and as a technical advisor to its Department of Aeronautics.[121]
World flight in 1937
Amelia Earhart standing in front of the Lockheed Electra in which she disappeared in July 1937
Planning
Early in 1936, Earhart started planning to fly around the world; if she succeeded, she would become the first woman to do so. Although others had flown around the world, Earhart's flight would be the longest at 29,000 miles (47,000 km) because it followed a roughly equatorial route. Earhart planned to court publicity along the route to increase interest in a planned book about the expedition.[128]
Purdue University established the Amelia Earhart Fund for Aeronautical Research and gave $50,000 (equivalent to $1,130,000 in 2024) to fund the purchase of a Lockheed Electra 10E airplane.[129] In July 1936,Lockheed Aircraft Company built the airplane, which was fitted with extra fuel tanks and other extensive modifications.[130] Earhart dubbed the twin-engine monoplane her "flying laboratory". The plane was built at Lockheed's plant inBurbank, California, and after delivery, it was hangared at the nearby Mantz's United Air Services.[131]
Earhart choseHarry Manning as her navigator; he had been the captain of thePresident Roosevelt, the ship that had transported Earhart from Europe in 1928.[129] Manning was also a pilot and a skilled radio operator who knewMorse code.[132]
Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan
The original plan was a two-person crew: Earhart would fly and Manning would navigate. During a flight across the US that included Earhart, Manning, and Putnam, Earhart flew using landmarks; she and Putnam knew where they were. Manning did a navigation fix that alarmed Putnam, because Manning made a minor navigational error that put them in the wrong state; they were flying close to the state line, but Putnam was still concerned.[133] Sometime later, Putnam and Mantz arranged a night flight to test Manning's navigational skill.[134] Under poor navigational conditions, Manning's position was off by 20 miles (32 km).Elgen M. and Marie K. Long considered Manning's performance reasonable, because it was within an acceptable error of 30 miles (48 km), but Mantz and Putnam wanted a better navigator.[135]
Through contacts in the Los Angeles aviation community,Fred Noonan was chosen as a second navigator, because there were significant additional factors that had to be dealt with while usingcelestial navigation for aircraft.[135][136] Noonan, a licensed ship's captain, was experienced in both marine andflight navigation; he had recently leftPan American World Airways (Pan Am), where he established most of the company'sChina Clipper seaplane routes across the Pacific. Noonan had also been responsible for training Pan American's navigators to fly the route betweenSan Francisco andManila.[137] Under the original plans, Noonan would navigate from Hawaii to Howland Island—a difficult portion of the flight—then Manning would continue with Earhart to Australia, and she would proceed on her own for the remainder of the project.[citation needed]
Abandoned first attempt
On March 17, 1937, Earhart and her crew set out on the first leg of her round-the-world flight, but they abandoned this attempt after a non-fatal crash that damaged the aircraft. The first leg of this attempt was between Oakland, California, and Honolulu, Hawaii. The crew were Earhart, Noonan, Manning, and Mantz, who was acting as Earhart's technical advisor. The propeller hubs' variable pitch mechanisms had problems, so the aircraft was taken to the U.S. Navy'sLuke Field facility atPearl Harbor for servicing. The flight resumed three days later from Luke Field, with Earhart, Noonan and Manning on board. The next destination wasHowland Island, a small island in the Pacific. Manning, the radio operator, had made arrangements to useradio direction finding to home in to the island. The flight never left Luke Field; during the takeoff run, there was an uncontrolledground-loop, the forward landing gear collapsed, both propellers hit the ground, and the plane skidded on its belly. The cause of the crash is not known; some witnesses at Luke Field, including an Associated Press journalist, said they saw a tire blow.[138] Earhart earlier thought the Electra's right tire had blown and the right landing gear had collapsed. Some sources, including Mantz, cited an error by Earhart.[138] With the aircraft severely damaged, the attempt was abandoned and the aircraft was shipped toLockheed Burbank, California, for repairs.[139]
Second attempt
The planned flight route
While the Electra was being repaired, Earhart and Putnam secured additional funds and prepared for a second attempt, in which they would fly west to east. The second attempt began with an unpublicized flight from Oakland toMiami, Florida, and after arriving there, Earhart announced her plans to circumnavigate the globe. The flight's opposite direction was partly the result of changes in global wind-and-weather patterns along the planned route since the earlier attempt.[citation needed]
Manning, the only skilled radio operator, had left the crew, which now consisted of Noonan and Earhart. The pair departed Miami on June 1 and after numerous stops in South America, Africa, the Indian subcontinent, and Southeast Asia, arrived atLae,New Guinea, on June 29, 1937. At this stage, about 22,000 miles (35,000 km) of the journey had been completed. The remaining 7,000 miles (11,000 km) would be over the Pacific.[citation needed]
Earhart's flight was intended to be fromLae Airfield toHowland Island, a trip of 2,556 miles (2,200 nmi; 4,100 km).
On at 10:00 am local time (12:00 amGMT), Earhart and Noonan took off fromLae Airfield in the heavily loaded Electra.[145] Their destination wasHowland Island, a flat sliver of land 6,500 ft (2,000 m) long and 1,600 ft (500 m) wide, 10 ft (3 m) high and 2,556 miles (2,221 nmi; 4,113 km) away.[146] The expected flying time was about 20 hours; accounting for the two-hour time-zone difference between Lae and Howland, and the crossing of theInternational Date Line, the aircraft was expected to arrive at Howland the morning of the next day, 2 July. The aircraft departed Lae with about 1,100 U.S. gallons (4,200 liters) of gasoline.[147]
In preparation for the trip to Howland Island, theU.S. Coast Guard had sent the cutterUSCGC Itasca (1929) to the island to offer communication and navigation support for the flight.[148] The cutter was to communicate with Earhart's aircraft via radio, transmit a homing signal to help the aviators locate Howland Island, use radio direction-finding (RDF), and use the cutter's boilers to create a dark column of smoke that could be seen over the horizon.[148] All of the navigation methods failed to guide Earhart to Howland Island.[148]
Around, Earhart reported her altitude as 10,000 ft (3,000 m), but that they would reduce altitude due to thick clouds. Around, Earhart reported her altitude as 7,000 ft (2,100 m) and speed as 150 kn (280 km/h; 170 mph).[149] During Earhart's and Noonan's approach to Howland Island,Itasca received strong, clear voice transmissions from Earhart identifying as KHAQQ, but she was unable to hear voice transmissions from the ship.[148]
The first calls received from Earhart were routine reports stating the weather was cloudy and overcast at and just before. These calls were broken up by static, but at this point, the aircraft was a long distance from Howland.[150] At, another call was received stating that the aircraft was within 200 miles (320 km) and requesting that the ship use its direction finder to provide a bearing for the aircraft. Earhart began whistling into the microphone to provide a continuous signal for the ship's crew to use.[151] At this point, the radio operators onItasca realized their RDF system could not tune into the aircraft's signal on 3105 kHz; radioman Leo Bellarts later commented he "was sitting there sweating blood because I couldn't do a darn thing about it".[152] A similar call asking for a bearing was received at, when Earhart estimated they were 100 miles (160 km) away.[153]
AnItasca radio log at 7:30–7:40 am states the aircraft had only a half hour of fuel remaining. A further radio log states they thought they were nearItasca but could not locate it and were flying at 1,000 ft (300 m).[154] In her transmission at, Earhart said she could not hearItasca and asked them to send voice signals so she could try to take a radio bearing.Itasca reported this signal as the loudest possible signal, indicating Earhart and Noonan were in the immediate area. The ship could not send voice at the frequency she asked for so they sent Morse code signals instead. Earhart acknowledged receiving these but said she was unable to determine their direction.[155]
USCGCItasca was at Howland Island to support the flight.
The last voice transmission received on Howland Island from Earhart indicated she and Noonan were flying along a line of position running north-to-south on 157–337 degrees, which Noonan would have calculated and drawn on a chart as passing through Howland.[156] After all contact with Howland Island was lost, attempts to reach the flyers with voice andMorse code transmissions were made. Operators across the Pacific and in the United States may have heard signals from the Electra but these were weak or unintelligible.[157]
A series of misunderstandings, errors or mechanical failures are likely to have occurred on the final approach to Howland Island. Noonan had earlier written about problems affecting the accuracy of RDF in navigation. Another cited cause of possible confusion was thatItasca and Earhart planned their communication schedule using time systems set a half-hour apart; Earhart was usingGreenwich Civil Time (GCT) andItasca was using a Naval time-zone designation system.[158]
Sources have noted Earhart's apparent lack of familiarity with her direction-finding system, which had been fitted to the aircraft just prior to the flight. The system was equipped with a new receiver fromBendix Corporation. Earhart's only training on the system was a brief introduction by Joe Gurr at the Lockheed factory. A card displaying the antenna's band settings was mounted so it was not visible.[159] The Electra expectedItasca to transmit signals the Electra could use as an RDF beacon to find the ship. In theory, the plane could listen for the signal while rotating itsloop antenna; a sharp minimum indicates the direction of the RDF beacon. The Electra's RDF equipment had failed due to a blown fuse during an earlier leg flying to Darwin; the fuse was replaced.[160] Near Howland, Earhart could hear the transmission fromItasca on 7500 kHz, but she was unable to determine a minimum so she could not determine a direction to the ship. Earhart was also unable to determine a minimum during an RDF test at Lae.[147]
The U.S. government investigated the aircraft's disappearance and, in its report, concluded Earhart's plane ran out of fuel and crashed into the ocean.[161] During the 1970s, retiredUnited States Navy (USN) captainLaurance Safford began a lengthy analysis of the flight. His research included the intricate radio-transmission documentation. Safford concluded the flight had suffered from poor planning and worse execution.[162]
Many researchers believe Earhart and Noonan died during or shortly after the crash. In 1982, retired USNrear admiral Richard R. Black, who was in administrative charge of the Howland Island airstrip and was present in the radio room onItasca, said: "the Electra went into the sea about 10 am, July 2, 1937, not far from Howland."[163] Earhart's stepson George Palmer Putnam Jr. has said he believes "the plane just ran out of gas".[164] According to Earhart-biography authorSusan Butler, the aircraft went into the ocean out of sight of Howland Island and rests on the seafloor at a depth of 17,000 ft (5 km).[165] Tom D. Crouch, senior curator of theNational Air and Space Museum, has said the Electra is "18,000 ft. down" and compared its archaeological significance to that ofRMS Titanic.[158]
British aviation historian Roy Nesbit interpreted evidence in contemporary accounts and Putnam's correspondence and concluded Earhart's Electra was not fully fueled at Lae.[166] William L. Polhemous, the navigator onAnn Pellegreno's 1967 flight that followed Earhart and Noonan's original flight path, studied navigational tables for July 2, 1937, and thought Noonan may have miscalculated the "single line approach" to Howland.[167]
Search efforts
Beginning approximately one hour after Earhart's last recorded message,Itasca undertook an unsuccessful search north and west of Howland Island based on initial assumptions about transmissions from the aircraft. The U.S. Navy joined the search and over about three days sent available resources to the search area near Howland Island.[168] Official search efforts lasted until July 19, 1937.[169] At $4 million (equivalent to $87 million in 2024), the air-and-sea search by the U.S. Navy andCoast Guard was the costliest and most intensive in U.S. history up to that time. Despite the unprecedented search, no physical evidence of Earhart, Noonan, or the Electra 10E was found.[170][171]
On the mornings of July 3 and July 6, 1937, an Oakland radio amateur was reported to have heard emergency transmissions, seemingly from Earhart.[172][c] In the days after their last confirmed transmissions, further transmissions purporting to be from Earhart were reported, many of which were determined to be hoaxes. The captain ofUSS Colorado later said: "There was no doubt many stations calling the Earhart plane on the plane's frequency, some by voice and others by signals. All of these added to the confusion and doubtfulness of the authenticity of the reports."[173]
Immediately after the end of the official search, Putnam financed a private search by local authorities of nearby Pacific islands and waters. In late July 1937, Putnam chartered two small boats and, while he remained in the United States, directed a search of other islands.[174] Putnam acted to become the trustee of Earhart's estate so he could pay for the searches and related bills. In probate court in Los Angeles, Putnam asked to have the "declared deathin absentia" seven-year waiting period waived so he could manage Earhart's finances. As a result, Earhart was declared legally dead on January 5, 1939.[1]
In 2003 and 2006,David Jourdan, through his company Nauticos, extensively searched a 1,200-square-mile (3,100 km2) area north and west of Howland Island with deep-sea sonar devices. The searches cost $4.5 million but did not find any wreckage. The search locations were derived from the line of position (157–337) broadcast by Earhart on July 2, 1937.[158]
In 2024, Deep Sea Vision, a Charleston, South Carolina, company that operatesunmanned underwater vehicles, found via sonar what it said could be the remains of Earhart's airplane on the ocean floor.[175][176] The object, which was 16,000 ft (4.9 km) deep and about 100 mi (160 km) from Howland Island, turned out to be a rock formation.[177][178][179]
Gardner (Nikumaroro) Island in 2014. "Seven Site" is a focus of the search for Earhart's remains.
While most historians believe Earhart crashed and sank in the Pacific Ocean, a number of other possibilities have been proposed, including severalconspiracy theories. TheGardner Island hypothesis supposes Earhart and Noonan were unable to find Howland Island and continued south. Gardner island, one of thePhoenix Islands that is now known as Nikumaroro, has been the subject of inquiry as a possible crash-landing site but, despite numerous expeditions, no link between Earhart and the island has ever been found.[180]
The Japanese capture theory assumes Japanese forces captured Earhart and Noonan after they navigated to the JapaneseSouth Seas Mandate. A number of Earhart's relatives have been convinced the Japanese were somehow involved in her disappearance, citing unnamed witnesses including Japanese troops and Saipan natives.[181][182]
The New Britain theory assumes Earhart turned back mid-flight and tried to reach the airfield atRabaul,New Britain, northeast of mainlandPapua New Guinea, approximately 2,200 miles (3,500 km) from Howland Island.[183] In 1990, Donald Angwin, a veteran of theAustralian Army's World War IINew Britain campaign, reported that in 1945 he had seen a wrecked aircraft in the jungle that may have been Earhart's Electra.[184][185] Subsequent searches of the area failed to find any wreckage.[184]
In November 2006,National Geographic Channel aired an episode of its seriesUndiscovered History that supposed Earhart survived the world flight, changed her name, remarried, and becameIrene Craigmile Bolam. This claim had originally been published in the bookAmelia Earhart Lives (1970), which is based on the research of Joseph Gervais.[186] Shortly after the book's publication, Bolam filed a lawsuit requesting $1.5 million in damages (equivalent to $12 million in 2024) and the book's publisherMcGraw-Hill withdrew it from the market; court records indicate the company reached an out-of-court settlement with her.[186]
During her life, Earhart embraced celebrity culture and women's rights, and since her disappearance, she has become a global cultural icon.[187] Countless tributes and memorials have been made in Amelia Earhart's name, including a 2012 tribute byU.S. Secretary of StateHillary Clinton, who said at a State Department event celebrating the ties of Earhart and the United States to its Pacific neighbors: "Earhart ... created a legacy that resonates today for anyone, girls and boys, who dreams of the stars".[188] In 2013,Flying magazine ranked Earhart No. 9 on its list of the "51 Heroes of Aviation".[8]
Earhart was a widely known, international celebrity during her lifetime. Her shyly charismatic appeal, independence, persistence, coolness under pressure, courage and goal-oriented career, along with the circumstances of her disappearance at a comparatively early age, have driven her lastingfame inpopular culture. Hundreds of articles and scores of books have been written about her life, which is often cited as a motivational tale, especially for girls. Earhart is generally regarded as afeminist icon.[189]
Earhart's accomplishments in aviation inspired a generation of female aviators, including more-than 1,000 female pilots of theWomen Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), who served during World War II.[190][191]
The home where Earhart was born is now theAmelia Earhart Birthplace Museum and is maintained byNinety-Nines, an international group of female pilots of which Earhart was the first elected president.[192] The Amelia Earhart Festival has taken place inAtchison, Kansas, every year since 1996.[193]
In 1967,Ann Pellegreno flew a similar aircraft to Earhart's, a Lockheed 10A Electra, to complete a round-the-world flight that followed Earhart's flight plan. On the 30th anniversary of her disappearance, Pellegreno dropped a wreath over Howland island in Earhart's honor.[194]
In 1997, on the 60th anniversary of Earhart's round-the-world flight, San Antonio businesswomanLinda Finch retraced the final flight path, flying a restored 1935 Lockheed Electra 10, the same make and model of aircraft as Earhart's.[195]
In 2001, another commemorative flight retraced the route Earhart flew in her August 1928 transcontinental record flight; Carlene Mendieta flew an originalAvro Avian, the same type of aircraft that was used in 1928.[80]
In 1964,Purdue University openedEarhart Hall in honor of her legacy and contribution to the university during her time as a career counselor for female students and technical advisor for the aeronautics department. In 2009, Purdue erected a bronze statue of Earhart holding a propeller in front of the residence hall named after her.[196] The university board recently approved plans to name the new Purdue University Airport terminal the Amelia Earhart Terminal.[197]
1963 U.S. Airmail Postal stamp honoring Earhart, the first woman to appear on an airmail issue.[198]
The Earhart Light, also known as the Amelia Earhart Light, is a navigationalday beacon on Howland Island, where she was due to land before she went missing. It is no longer operational.[199]Amelia Earhart Airport inAtchison, Kansas, was named in her honor.[200]
A small section of Earhart's Lockheed Electra starboard enginenacelle that was recovered following the March 1937 Hawaii crash has been confirmed as authentic and is now regarded as a control piece that will help authenticate possible future discoveries.[207]
The Amelia Earhart Fellowship was established byZonta International in 1938. It awards US$10,000 annually to up to 30 women pursuing Ph.D. degrees in aerospace engineering and space sciences. Since the program’s inception in 1938, Zonta has awarded 1,764 Amelia Earhart Fellowships, totaling more than US$11.9 million, to 1,335 women from 79 countries.[208][209]
In popular culture
Amelia Earhart's life has been the subject of many writers; the following collection of examples make no claims of completeness:
In 2011, theGreat Canadian Theatre Company hosted a musical play titledAmelia: The Girl Who Wants To Fly.[212] This is one of numerous plays on the subject.
Plainsong released a tribute album,In Search of Amelia Earhart (Elektra K42120), in 1972. Both the album and the Press Pak released by Elektra have become collectables and have gained a cult status.[217]
SingerJoni Mitchell's song "Amelia" appears on her albumHejira (1976) and it also features in the video of her 1980 live albumShadows and Light (1980) with clips of Earhart. Commenting on the origins of the song, which interweaves the story of a desert journey with aspects of Earhart's disappearance, Mitchell said: "I was thinking of Amelia Earhart and addressing it from one solo pilot to another ... sort of reflecting on the cost of being a woman and having something you must do".[218]
Earhart was a successful and heavily promoted writer who served as aviation editor forCosmopolitan from 1928 to 1930. She wrote magazine articles, newspaper columns, and essays, and published two books based upon her experiences as a flyer during her lifetime:
20 Hrs. 40 Min. (1928) is a journal of her experiences as the first woman passenger on a transatlantic flight.
The Fun of It (1932) is a memoir of her flying experiences and an essay on women in aviation.
Last Flight (1937) features the periodic journal entries she sent to the United States during her round-the-world flight attempt, and was published in newspapers in the weeks prior to her departure fromNew Guinea. The journal was compiled by Earhart's husband GP Putnam after her disappearance over the Pacific. Many historians consider this book to be only partially Earhart's original work.
^"Old Bessie" started out as a Vega 5 built in 1928 as c/n 36, but was modified with a replacement fuselage to become a 5B.[117]
^The reputed July 3 transmission was an SOS message in Earhart's voice, accompanied by her plane's call letters. The alleged July 6 message, heard on one of Earhart's bands, was in a faint voice and its gender was unidentifiable. It said, "Cannot hold out much longer". Putnam believed the messages to be authentic because they were within five minutes of the half hour, the expected interval of SOS messages.[172]
^ab"Biography.Archived May 25, 2012, at theWayback MachineThe Official Website of Amelia Earhart (The Family of Amelia Earhart). accessed: June 4, 2012.
^"Outstanding Alumnae".Penn State University Libraries. September 12, 2016.Archived from the original on September 25, 2018. RetrievedSeptember 25, 2018.
^Gils, Bieke, "Pioneers of Flight: An Analysis of Gender Issues in United States Civilian (Sport) and Commercial Aviation 1920–1940" (2009). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 262.
^Ware, Susan.Still Missing: Amelia Earhart and the Search for Modern Feminism. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1993.ISBN0-393-03551-4.
^Harvey, Steve (August 9, 1990)."Has Simi Valley become embroiled in the Middle East situation?".Los Angeles Times.Archived from the original on January 12, 2024. RetrievedMay 25, 2022.Fawn Peck took off on his first airplane flight from Rogers Field, which isn't listed on any current maps. It was at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue. Soon afterward he took a job as a mechanic at a two-hangar facility called Mines Field. You might know it better by its current name, Los Angeles International Airport. The year was 1928.
^"Miss Earhart Sets Autogiro Record",The New York Times, April 9, 1931, p. 1
^"The Autogiro Flies the Mail!", by W. David Lewis, inRealizing the Dream of Flight, ed. by Virginia P. Dawson (National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 2005) p. 78
^ab"Eighty years since famed flight; Anniversary Amelia Earhart's stop in Saint John may have been brief but pivotal in record-breaking feat".The Telegraph-Journal, May 19, 2012.
^Altman, Elizabeth."Amelia Earhart home, Toluca Lake, 2003."Archived March 25, 2012, at theWayback Machine Oviatt Library Digital Archives, Delmar T. Oviatt Library, Urban Archives Center, California State University, Northridge, California. Photo: As of 29 September 2003[update]. accessed: September 23, 2011.
^"History."TolucaLakeChamber.com, July 17, 2011. accessed: September 15, 2010.
^Long & Long (1999, pp. 60–61): Manning "passed a note to Amelia in the cockpit giving a position in southern Kansas when they were actually in northern Oklahoma. Amelia realized they were only a few miles south of the Kansas border; in reality, the position wasn't all that far off. G. P. took the worst possible view and expressed concern because Manning didn't even have them in the right state."
^abMerkin, Daphne (May 20, 1996)."Earhart Ever After".The New Yorker.(subscription required)
^"Amelia: The Girl Who Wants to Fly". Archived from the original on December 30, 2011. RetrievedOctober 6, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). Great Canadian Theatre Company. accessed: October 6, 2011.
Grooch, William Stephen (1936).Skyway to Asia. New York: Longmans, Green and Co.
Hamill, Pete (September 1976). "Leather and Pearls: The Cult of Amelia Earhart".Ms.
Haynsworth, Leslie; Toomey, David (1998).Amelia Earhart's daughters: the wild and glorious story of American women aviators from World War II to the dawn of the space age (1st Perennial ed.). New York: Perennial.ISBN978-0-380-72984-5.
Morrissey, Muriel Earhart.Amelia Earhart. Santa Barbara, California: Bellerophon Books, 1992.ISBN0-88388-044-X.
Morrissey, Muriel Earhart (1963).Courage is the Price: The Biography of Amelia Earhart. McCormick-Armstrong, Pub. Division.
Oakes, Claudia M. (1985).United States women in aviation, 1930–1939. Smithsonian Institution Press.ISBN978-0-87474-709-6.
Parsons, Bill (1983).The challenge of the Atlantic: a photo-illustrated history of early aviation in Harbour Grace, Nfld. St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada: Robinson-Blackmore.ISBN978-0-920884-06-5.
Safford, Laurance F. (2003).Earhart's flight into yesterday: the facts without the fiction. McLean, Va.: Paladwr Press.ISBN978-1-888962-20-8.
Safford, Laurance F. with Cameron A. Warren and Robert R. Payne.Earhart's Flight into Yesterday: The Facts Without the Fiction, McLean, Virginia: Paladwr Press, 2003.ISBN1-888962-20-8.
Strippel, Richard G. (November 1995). "Researching Amelia: A detailed summary for the serious researcher into the disappearance of Amelia Earhart".Air Classics.31 (11).
Chapman, Sally Putnam; Mansfield, Stephanie (1997).Whistled Like a Bird: The Untold Story of Dorothy Putnam, George Putnam and Amelia Earhart. New York, NY:Warner Books.ISBN978-0-446-52055-3.
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