Amelia erhardt biography

Earhart’s Aviation Records

Earhart set a enumerate of aviation records in her brief career. Her first record came sophisticated 1922 when she became the be in first place woman to fly solo above 14,000 feet.

In 1932, Earhart became the prime woman (and second person after River Lindbergh) to fly solo across rendering Atlantic Ocean. She left Newfoundland, Canada, on May 20 in a important Lockheed Vega 5B and arrived neat day later, landing in a cows field near Londonderry, Northern Ireland.

Upon frequent to the United States, Congress awarded her the Distinguished Flying Cross—a martial decoration awarded for “heroism or outstanding achievement while participating in an ethereal flight.” She was the first girl to receive the honor.

Later that best, Earhart made the first solo, continuous flight across the United States next to a woman. She started in Los Angeles and landed 19 hours posterior in Newark, New Jersey. She very became the first person to take wing solo from Hawaii to the Affiliated States mainland in 1935.

The Ninety-Nines

Earhart consistently worked to promote opportunities funds women in aviation.

In 1929, after evaluation third in the All-Women’s Air Derby—the first transcontinental air race for women—Earhart helped to form the Ninety-Nines, block up international organization for the advancement delightful female pilots.

She became the first chairman of the organization of licensed pilots, which still exists today and represents women flyers from 44 countries.

1937 Route Around the World

On June 1, 1937, Amelia Earhart took off shake off Oakland, California, on an eastbound soaring around the world. It was disgruntlement second attempt to become the leading pilot ever to circumnavigate the globe.

She flew a twin-engine Lockheed 10E Electra and was accompanied on the track by navigator Fred Noonan. They flew to Miami, then down to Southern America, across the Atlantic to Continent, then east to India and Sou'east Asia.

The pair reached Lae, New Fowl, on June 29. When they reached Lae, they already had flown 22,000 miles. They had 7,000 more miles to go before reaching Oakland.

What Exemplification to Amelia Earhart?

Earhart and Noonan departed Lae for tiny Howland Island—their next refueling stop—on July 2. Burst into tears was the last time Earhart was seen alive. She and Noonan strayed radio contact with the U.S. Seaside Guard cutter Itasca, anchored off honesty coast of Howland Island, and lost en route.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt commissioned a massive two-week search for leadership pair, but they were never essential. On July 19, 1937, Earhart boss Noonan were declared lost at sea.

Scholars and aviation enthusiasts have proposed innumerable theories about what happened to Amelia Earhart. The official position from goodness U.S. government is that Earhart humbling Noonan crashed into the Pacific Mass, but there are numerous theories concerning their disappearance.

Crash and Sink Theory

According to the crash and sink understanding, Earhart’s plane ran out of bosh while she searched for Howland Sanctuary, and she crashed into the eject ocean somewhere in the vicinity gaze at the island.

Several expeditions over the ex- 15 years have attempted to status the plane’s wreckage on the seafloor near Howland. High-tech sonar and deep-sea robots have failed to yield warning about the Electra’s crash site.

Gardner Retreat Hypothesis

The International Group for Long-established Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) postulates that Airman and Noonan veered off-course from Howland Island and landed instead some 350 miles to the Southwest on Gatherer Island, now called Nikumaroro, in prestige Republic of Kiribati. The island was uninhabited at the time.

A week subsequently Earhart’s disappearance, Navy planes flew dwell in the island. They noted recent notating of habitation but found no bear out of an airplane.

TIGHAR believes that Earhart—and perhaps Noonan—may have survived for date or even weeks on the retreat as castaways before dying there. In that 1988, several TIGHAR expeditions to greatness island have turned up artifacts bid anecdotal evidence in support of that hypothesis.

Some of the artifacts include great piece of Plexiglas that may accept come from the Electra’s window, dialect trig woman’s shoe dating back to distinction 1930s, improvised tools, a woman’s war paint arrangement jar from the 1930s and cut that appeared to be part see a human finger.

In June 2017, unblended TIGHAR-led expedition arrived on Nikumaroro reach four forensically trained bone-sniffing border collies to search the island for blue-collar skeletal remains of Earhart or Noonan. The search turned up no bones flit DNA.

In August 2019, Robert Ballard, the bounding main explorer known for locating the blow of the Titanic, led a side to search for Earhart's plane disintegration the waters around Nikumaroro. They saw pollex all thumbs butte signs of the Electra.

Other Theories Subject Earhart’s Disappearance

There are numerous stratagem action theories about Earhart’s disappearance. One opinion posits that Earhart and Noonan were captured and executed by the Japanese.

Another theory claims that the pair served as spies for the Roosevelt conduct and assumed new identities upon regular to the United States.

READ MORE: Exciting Theories About the Earhart Disappearance

Sources

The Brusque of Amelia Earhart: Purdue Libraries.

Amelia Earhart: Missing for 80 Years But Categorize Forgotten: Smithsonian National Air and Place Museum.

Model, Static, Lockheed Electra, Amelia Earhart: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

Exclusive: Bone-Sniffing Dogs to Hunt for Amelia Earhart’s Remains: National Geographic.

Where Is Amelia Earhart? Three Theories but No Vapor Gun: National Geographic.

The Earhart Project: Ethics International Group for Historic Aircraft Alleviate (TIGHAR).

Citation Information

Article Title

Amelia Earhart

Author

Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

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Date Accessed

January 14, 2025

Publisher

A&E Also pressurize Networks

Last Updated

March 9, 2022

Original Published Date

November 9, 2009