THE LAST FLIGHT OF AMELIA EARHART

The disappearance of Amelia Earhart remains the ultimate cold case of the 20th century. In 1937, she was the world’s most famous female pilot, attempting to become the first woman to circumnavigate the globe.

Here is the breakdown of that fateful final leg and the theories that still haunt historians today.

The Mission: June–July 1937

Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, were flying a twin-engine Lockheed Electra 10E. After completing 22,000 miles of their journey, they departed from Lae, New Guinea, on July 2, 1937.

Their destination was Howland Island, a tiny speck of land in the middle of the Pacific, only 1.5 miles long.

The Breakdown of Communication

The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Itasca was stationed at Howland to guide them in. However, a series of technical failures led to disaster:

• Radio Confusion: Earhart could hear the Itasca, but the Itasca could not hear her clearly.
• Signal Strength: Her final transmissions indicated she believed she was over the island but couldn't see it.
• The Final Message: At 8:43 AM, she radioed: "We are on the line 157 337... we are running on line north and south." After that, there was silence.

The Leading Theories

Despite the largest search in naval history at the time, no trace was found. This void has been filled by three primary theories:

Theory	The Premise	Evidence/Status
Crash and Sink	The plane ran out of fuel and ditched in the deep ocean near Howland Island.	Most widely accepted by scientists. Recent sonar imagery (2024) suggests a plane-shaped object on the seafloor.
Gardner Island	They landed on Nikumaroro (then Gardner Island), lived as castaways, and eventually died.	TIGHAR researchers found bones (later lost) and artifacts like a woman’s shoe and a 1930s sextant box.
Capture/Spying	Earhart was captured by the Japanese or was acting as a U.S. spy.	Largely considered a conspiracy theory with no credible physical evidence.

Why It Still Matters

Earhart wasn't just a pilot; she was a cultural icon who shattered "the glass ceiling" before the term even existed. Her disappearance turned a record-breaking attempt into a permanent legend, fueled by her final letter to her husband, George Putnam:

"Please know I am quite aware of the hazards. I want to do it because I want to do it. Women must try to do things as men have tried."

Google Gemini AI

16/2/2026: 8.54 p.m