02 July 2012

2 July 1937, Somewhere Near Howland Island...


Listening to the morning broadcast earlier on I was reminded of today's significance in aeronautical history.  On 2 July 1937 Amelia Earhart and her navigator disappeared somewhere over the South Pacific.

'At 10am local time, zero Greenwich time on July 2, 1937 Amelia and navigator Noonan took off. Despite favorable weather reports, they flew into overcast skies and intermittent rain showers. This made Noonan's premier method of tracking, celestial navigation, difficult. 

As dawn neared, Earhart called the ITASCA, reporting "cloudy, weather cloudy." In later transmissions Earhart asked the ITASCA to take bearings on her. The ITASCA sent her a steady stream of transmissions but she could not hear them. 

Her radio transmissions, irregular through most of the flight, were faint or interrupted with static. At 7:42 A.M. the Itasca picked up the message, "We must be on you, but we cannot see you. Fuel is running low. Been unable to reach you by radio. We are flying at 1,000 feet." 

The ship tried to reply, but the plane seemed not to hear. At 8:45 Earhart reported, "We are running north and south." Nothing further was heard from Earhart.'

More on the Official Amelia Earhart website (here)

Amilia Earhart captured the imagination of millions of people. It is 75 years since her voice was last heard and she still inspires to this day! Her winning smile will never be forgotten!

Amelia Earhart 1897-1937


1 comment:

  1. Fascinating! What a brave and intrepid woman, and how sad she didnt make that trip.
    Thanks for sharing this Noelle.
    Gill xx

    ReplyDelete

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