Purdue University is launching an expedition this week to search again for Amelia Earhart’s missing Lockheed 10E Electra, with Nikumaroro part of the renewed hunt. The effort revisits a mystery that began on July 2, 1937, when Earhart and Fred Noonan disappeared during a flight from Lae, New Guinea.
The aircraft had already covered 22,000 miles by the time it took off for an 18-hour journey to Howland Island, with 7,000 miles still left before Earhart’s goal. The plane carried the maximum 1,150 gallons of fuel, and the passenger seats were removed to make room for extra tanks.
Lae to Howland Island
The leg from Lae to Howland Island was 2,556 miles long and marked Earhart’s 31st of 34 total legs. The island was only 2 miles long and less than 2 miles across, which left very little room for error as Earhart and Noonan headed into the Pacific Ocean.
The US Coast Guard vessel Itasca was waiting off Howland Island with fuel, and radio operators on board received messages from Earhart’s plane. Earhart sent, “We must be on you, but cannot see you. Gas is running low. Been unable to reach you by radio. We are flying at 1,000 feet.”
Dorothy Cochrane on the search
Dorothy Cochrane, an Earhart expert and retired curator at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, described the challenge plainly: “They were flying all night and then trying to pick out this tiny island.” She added, “We know that there were some clouds in the area, and the sun's in her face as she's talking. It's just really, really difficult,”
Earhart’s final message said, “We are on the line of position 157-337. Will repeat message. We will repeat this message on 6210 kilocycles. Wait. Listening on 6210 kilocycles. We are running north and south.” The radio log places the plane in its final exchanges before contact was lost.
Dozens of searches
The United States staged an unprecedented attempt to find the crew and the plane, covering an area around the size of Texas. Those efforts came to nothing, and the search for answers has continued for decades.
This week’s Purdue University expedition is the latest attempt to solve what might be the world’s greatest aviation mystery. For readers following the search, the immediate next step is the survey itself; the outcome of that work will determine whether the object that drew the team in merits a closer look.
