The Disappearance of Amelia Earhart
When Amelia Earhart went for a plane ride at air show in Long Beach in 1920, she was unaware of how those ten minutes would change her life for good. It would not just lead to a deep love for airplanes and adventures, but it would also become a mysterious cold case and investigation worth a place in the history books. The story of Earhart, the world’s first person to fly over both the Pacific and the Atlantic Sea, is a world-famous cold case about how she, during an attempt to circumnavigate the world in an airplane, miraculously disappeared. Many theories have been presented but the case remains unsolved, yet the most reasonable theory is that they were lost to the sea. Even now, 80 years later, people are still trying to solve the case of the missing airplane, being one of the most interesting disappearances in history (Amelia Earhart).
The story about when Earhart was trying to circumnavigate the earth as a pioneer, has become one of the most famous cold cases and disappearances in the world. Prior to the flight, Earhart recruited a top tier crew of three and men, two navigators and one technical advisor, and bought a plane named Lockheed Electra L-10E to fly in. Prior to the trip, they had some technical periodic difficulties with the airplane. One time when it was about to start a test flight, it was in such bad condition that Earhart was not able to control it at all. Different theories to explain this happening have been presented, one being that it was a pilot error and another that a tire was damaged. According to A & E Television Network, the even had problems with the maps: “Evidence shows that the charts used by Noonan and Earhart placed Howland Island nearly six miles off its actual position. This caused the pioneer flight to be postponed, and they had to reconsider the flight plan due to changes in wind and weather conditions.
On June 1st, 1937, the first ever to be trip around the earth began with Earhart, her second navigator, Noonan, and the Lockheed Electra L-10E (Amelia Earhart Disappears). The day after the take-off, they reached the Howland Island in the Pacific Ocean, which is one of the worlds’ most challenging routes, they lost their connection to the civilization. According to Greshko, the US Coast Guard received a message from Lockheed just before the communication went disconnected which read: “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 crew and the plane were reported missing in the surroundings of Howland Island in the Pacific Ocean. (Top 3 Theories for Amelia Earhart’s Disappearance)
In 1939, Earhart was declared dead by a court order due to the disappearance. However, this decision was fairly debated since there were many lacks in the investigation. Still up until this day, many new theories are being presented to what could have happened to Earhart and the airplane, since no official or clear trace of the Lockheed and Earhart have never been found. The world of people invested in the investigation have a few theories that are the main theories of them all. These range from theories that have been even accepted by historians to more unsupported claims that they were abducted by aliens. The first theory which has the biggest possibility to be the truth, is that they crashed in the middle of the Pacific Ocean due to the fuel issue. According to the last communication with the airplane, they were located near the Howland Island but never reached it. This is a very logical theory that can be applied to other as well, and there is a reasonable explanation to the missing. When an airplane runs out of fuel and the communication is disconnected, it is very likely for a crash in the middle of the ocean to happen.
The second theory is that they might have been able to successfully land on the Nikumaroro island, which is the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery’s theory. This theory is also based on the last radio transmission and could be supported by that colonist on the island have reported a campfire and 13 buried bones. Even though this might have been a possible theory, it lacks evidence of what would have happened to the airplane. (Amelia Earhart’s Last Landing).
As time goes by, the harder it will get to present and evaluate new evidence. The disappearance of Amelia Earhart and her airplane Lockheed will probably forever be a mystery to the world, and only known to Earhart and Noonan. How simple and unexciting it might be for they story, the simplest explanation to their disappearance is that they ran out of fuel and disappeared in the ocean with the airplane.
Work Cited
“Amelia Earhart.” Biography.com, A & E Television Networks, 20 Aug. 2020. https://www.biography.com/explorer/amelia-earhart. Accessed 10 March, 2021.
“Amelia Earhart Disappears.” History.com, A & E Television Networks, 29 June, 2020 https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/amelia-earhart-disappears
Greshko, M.” Top 3 Theories for Amelia Earhart’s Disappearance.” National Geographic, 5 July, 2017. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/amelia-earhart-disappearance-theories-spd. Accessed 10 March, 2021.
Masters, H. Sewanee Review. “Amelia Earhart’s Last Landing.” vol. 120, no. 3, Summer 2012, pp. 471–475, EBSCOhost, doi:10.1353/sew.2012.0061.
