Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan set out on one of the final legs of their around-the-world flight from Lae, New Guinea, on July 2, 1937. The Lockheed Electra 10E aircraft carrying them disappeared while on course for tiny Howland Island, which is located in the central Pacific Ocean, according to National Geographic.
History reported that Earhart sent radio transmissions informing the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Itasca that she was lost and running short on gasoline as she approached Howland Island.
Earhart and Noonan's remains were never discovered.
Despite the passage of 85 years, interest in unraveling the mystery of her disappearance is still high.
What Happened on the Last Leg of Earhart and Noonan's Around-the-World Flight?
According to History, Earhart took the Lockheed Electra 10E aircraft in May 1937 and flew it to Miami, where she would undertake a new round-the-world attempt with navigator Frederick Noonan. The remaining 7,000 miles would all be traveled over the Pacific Ocean after almost 22,000 miles of the route had been accomplished. Howland Island was the next stop.
On the island, the U.S. Department of Commerce installed a weather station and a landing runway, and the crew had fuel and supplies on hand. The Coast Guard cutter Itasca was one of many American ships sent to assist Earhart and Noonan on this challenging stretch of their flight.
Earhart radioed the Itasca and informed it that she was running low on fuel as the Lockheed Electra 10E approached Howland Island. And the rest was history.
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Theories on the Disappearance of Earhart and Noonan
National Geographic said that there are three theories on how the aviators went missing near the Howland Island, which are as follows:
Theory 1: Open-Ocean Crash Near Destination
According to the official U.S. position, Earhart and Noonan crashed in the Pacific Ocean after running out of fuel while en route to Howland Island. Over the years, a number of deep-ocean searches were conducted, however the trip produced no information regarding the plane's wreckage.
Theory 2: Nikumaroro Castaway
The theory that Earhart and Noonan's Lockheed Electra 10E landed on Nikumaroro Island, an island 350 nautical miles southwest of Howland, is being looked into by the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR).
When Earhart disappeared, Nikumaroro's tides were very low, exposing a reef surface along the shore that was long and flat enough for a plane to land. The Lockheed Electra 10E is thought to have finally been lifted off the reef by the tide before sinking or breaking up in the waves, according to the TIGHAR researchers.
Theory 3: The Marshall Islands Conspiracy
A third hypothesis holds that Earhart and Noonan are not intending to locate Howland. Instead, they traveled north to the Marshall Islands, which were controlled by the Japanese. There, they may have been held hostage by the Japanese as American spies.
Some people think that both pilots were finally dead, while others think that Earhart and maybe Noonan came back to the U.S. using false identities.
