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 Lockheed March 20, 1937  March 1937   July 2, 1937 |
Pilot Amelia M. Earhart (missing) Atchison, KS Navigator Frederick "Fred" J. Noonan (missing) Chicago, IL Missing July 2, 1937 Aircraft History Built by Lockheed in Burbank as Model 10E Electra (L-10E). Constructors Number 1055. This aircraft was one of fifteen Electras modified with two Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp S3H1 9 cylcinder radial engines radated at 600 hp each. Registered in the United States as NR16020. On May 21, 1937 pilot Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan departed on their second attempt to circumnavigate the world departing Oakland Airfield and flying southward to Burbank Airfield then eastward across the United States via Tucson, Arizona and New Orleans, Louisiana before arriving at Miami Airport. In Miami, she announced she would make her second attempt to circumnavigate the world. On June 15, 1937 took off from Assab, Eritrea and flys 1,400 miles over over the Red Sea and north of the Gulf of Aden before landing safely at Karachi Airport at night. On June 16, 1937 at 7:25am took off from Karachi Airport on a 1,350 mile flight eastward. On June 17, 1937 lands at Kolkata Airport (Dum Dum Airfield) near Calcutta in India. On June 18, 1937 took off frok Kol on the next leg of her flight across the Bay of Bengal but bad weather forced her to land at 12:34pm at Akyab Airfield (Sittwe) in Burma (Myanmar). She took off again in an attempt to reach Bangkok Airfield but returned two hours later due to bad weather. On June 19, 1937 took off from Akyab Airfield (Sittwe) and after a two hour 53 minute flight lands at 6: Rangoon Airfield (Yangon) in Burma at 6:35am. Next, departs for Bangkok Airfield then to Singapore where she takes three days to rest while her plane is overhauled. On June 21 1937 took off from Singapore on a flight over the Java Sea and at 10:17am lands at Bandoeng Airfield on Java. Next, flies via Koepang Airfield on Timor then to Darwin Civil Aerodrome (Parap) in Northern Territory of Australia. On June 29, 1937 took off from Darwin and flew northeast over the Arafura Sea to New Guinea and landed at Lae Airfield. Over the next three days, the plane was serviced by Guinea Airways and refueled by Vacuum while Earhart and Noonan stayed at Hotel Cecil in Lae. Mission History On July 2, 1937 at 10:00am took off from Lae Airfield on the north coast of New Guinea on a flight over the Pacific Ocean bound for Kamakaiwi Airfield on Howland Island. Although in radio contact with U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) radio operators, they never reached their destination and went missing. Search Two hours after U.S. Coast Guard radio operators lost contact with the aircraft, U.S. Coast Guard cutter Itasca began searching to the north and northwest of Howland Island and continued sweeping that area for the next week without result. The U.S. Navy (USN) joined the search which eventually involved the battleship USS Colorado (BB-45), USS Swan (AVP-7), USS Lexington (CV-2) plus three escorting destroyers USS Cushing (DD-376), USS Lamson (DD-367) and USS Drayton (DD-366). The Japanese oceanographic survey ship Koshu searched in the Marshall Islands. Some sources falsely claimed that Kamoi also participated in the search. Although briefly ordered, the vessel never participated in any search nor was it in area. The official U.S. search for Earhart was abandoned on July 18, 1937 with no trace of the aircraft or crew found. The cost of the search was estimated by the press to be $4 million dollars and the effort was touted as the largest search and rescue operation ever mounted up to that time. In truth, the actual cost of the search in excess of routine fleet operations was never officially calculated, bur the 1927 search for French transatlantic fliers Charles Nungesser and Francois Coli involved more ships for a greater time over a larger area. Earhart, however, remains one of the most famous unsolved aircraft disappearances in the world. Memorials Earhart was officially declared "legally dead" on January 5, 1939. Noonan was officially declared dead on June 20, 1938. Earhart has a memorial marker at Valhalla Memorial Park in North Hollywood, CA in the portal of the folded wings. At Lae Airfield on July 2, 1987, an Amelia Earhart Memorial was dedicated near the runway, donated by Air Niugini. The disappearance of this Electra is one of aviation's greatest unsolved mysteries. Earhart's disappearance has spawned many Amelia Earhart myths and unsupported claims about her fate. None of these myths are true or substantiated and span many regions of the Pacific. References Amelia Earhart myths and unsupported claims about her fate Tripline - Amelia Earhart's Circumnavigation Attempt FindAGrave - Amelia Earhart (photo) FindAGrave - Amelia Earhart (memorial marker Valhalla Memorial Park) FindAGrave - Frederick Joseph "Fred" Noonan (photo) Working in Papua New Guinea 1931-1946 (1983) pages 255, 257 (photos) "It was the 29th of that month [June 1937] that the American aviatrix Amelia Earhart Putnam and her navigator Fred Noonan arrived in Lae, during their attempt to fly around the world in their twin-engined Lockheed Electra 10, powered by two Pratt and Whitney Wasp engines. Their last stop had been Darwin... They remained in Lae for three days while their plane was serviced by GA [Guinea Airways] and refueled by Vacuum." Paradise Magazine "Amelia Earhart Remembered" by Bruce Hoy No. 63, July - August 1984 Flightpath Magazine "Amelia Earhart Remembered" by Bruce Hoy, Volume 4 No. 3 Flightpath Magazine "Leave Amelia Alone" by Michael Claringbould 2003 Lockheed - Model 10 Electra TIGHAR - The Earhart Project Contribute Information Are you a relative or associated with any person mentioned? Do you have photos or additional information to add? Last Updated July 15, 2025 |
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