The Disappearance of Amelia Earhart
On the hardest leg of her round-the-world flight, Amelia Earhart radioed that she must be near tiny Howland Island, and was never seen again.
What was reported
On 2 July 1937, Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan took off from Lae, in New Guinea, in their Lockheed Electra, bound for Howland Island, a speck of land in the central Pacific, on the longest leg of their attempt to fly around the world.
The Coast Guard ship Itasca, waiting off Howland, heard her radio messages growing stronger: they must be on top of the island, she said, but couldn't see it, and fuel was running low. Then the transmissions stopped. A huge search found no trace.
Explanations offered
The official conclusion is that they ran out of fuel and came down in the sea near Howland. Another theory, pursued by the group TIGHAR, is that they landed on Nikumaroro, an uninhabited atoll several hundred kilometres to the south-east, where bones and other items were found in 1940. A claim that they were captured by Japanese forces lacks firm evidence. Searches continue.
- When
- 2 July 1937
- Where
- Near Howland Island, Pacific Ocean
- Witnesses
- Radio operators on the US Coast Guard ship Itasca
- Status
- Never solved
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.