Disappearance and Search, 1937 - 1938

Sub-Series — Box: 5

Identifier: MSP 9, Series 1, Sub-Series 14

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This subseries contains correspondence related to Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan's disappearance and search, including correspondence with Purdue University. Also included is a Pan American Airways system reports on Earhart’s radio transmissions, report by J. A. Callopy of the Civil Aviation Board regarding Earhart’s Lockheed Electra and her last flight, newspaper clippings, tribute poems and memorials, along with condolence letters.

Dates

Creation: 1937 - 1938

Creator

From the Collection: Earhart, Amelia, 1897-1937 (Person)
From the Collection: Putnam, George Palmer, 1887-1950 (Person)

Access Information

The collection is open for research.

Biographical Information

On July 2, 1937 (midnight GMT) Earhart and Noonan took off from Lae in the heavily loaded Electra. Their intended destination was Howland Island, a flat sliver of land 6500 feet long and 1600 wide and 2556 miles away. Their last known position report was near the Nukumanu Islands, about 800 miles into the flight. The United States Coast Guard cutter Itasca was on station at Howland, assigned to communicate with Earhart’s Lockheed Electra 10E and guide them to the island once they arrived in the vicinity. During Earhart and Noonan’s approach to Howland Island, the Itasca received strong, relatively clear voice transmissions from Earhart but she apparently was unable to hear transmissions from the ship. Earhart’s transmissions seemed to indicate she and Noonan believed they had reached Howland’s charted position, which was incorrect by about five nautical miles (10 km). The Itasca used her oil-fired boilers to generate smoke for a period of time but the fliers apparently did not see it. The many scattered clouds in the area around Howland Island have also been cited as a problem: their dark shadows on the ocean surface may have been almost indistinguishable from the island’s subdued and very flat profile. The Itasca made an ultimately unsuccessful search north and west of Howland Island based on initial assumptions about transmissions from the plane. The U.S. Navy soon took over the search and over a period of about three days sent available resources to the search area in the vicinity of Howland Island. Based on bearings of several supposed Earhart radio transmissions (along with her last known transmission giving a line of position), some of the search efforts were eventually directed to the Phoenix Islands south of Howland Island. Naval aircraft flew over remote Gardner Island and reported “signs of recent habitation” but the pilots were not aware the island had been uninhabited since 1892. Other Navy search efforts were again directed north, west and southwest of Howland, based on a belief the plane had ditched in the ocean. The official search efforts lasted about nine days but Earhart, Noonan and the Electra 10E were never found. Amelia Earhart was declared legally dead on January 5, 1939.