New Guinea - Amelia Earhart & Fred Noonan, en route to Howland Island, 2 July 1937

[nhmemorymaker]

The only thing is, I'm surprised no parts of the plane have ever washed ashore or have surfaced.

@Richard ... Were their any suspected pieces ever come ashore.

 

[Richard]

@Richard ... Were their any suspected pieces ever come ashore.

Not that I know of.

The Electra contained extra fuel tanks, which were running low on fuel by her estimated time of arrival (ETA) at Howland Island. Those tanks being close to empty of fuel would have provided much buoyancy to the plane in the water.

There is almost no doubt that the plane went down as a direct result of the low fuel, and their failure to find Howland. But that doesn't necessarily mean that they flew the plane until the engines quit.

All long range pilots and navigators monitor their fuel status very closely and take necessary steps to seek alternate emergency landing sites.

At a given point, the aviator has to make a decision and carry out a plan. In this case, I would think they decided to seek another island or lagoon to set down on before fuel was exhausted.

A major problem was Amelia's poor communication skills. She should have been broadcasting in the blind her positions, headings, airspeed and intentions.

 

[Richard]

There are not many close islands east of Howland Island.

Amelia and Fred had passed by or over the Gilbert's on their way to Howland, so a likely scenario for them when unsuccessful in finding Howland or the USCG cutter Itasca, would have been to turn to the west and seek an alternate spot to land or ditch in friendly (not Japanese held) territory.

If, for some reason, they were actually north of Howland at ETA- turning to the west would have brought them into the Marshall Islands. These were part of a larger group of Pacific islands previously owned by Germany, which were "Mandated" by the League of Nations after WW I and assigned to Japan to administer.

By 1937, Japan considered them to be Japanese owned territory and had begun to fortify them, building runways, radio stations, gun emplacements, ammunition dumps, docks, troop quarters, food storage buildings, water cisterns, etc.

The Imperial Japanese Army and Navy , based on Saipan, ran the area with an iron fist and arrested or detained anyone caught "trespassing".

It is strongly believed by some that Amelia and Fred survived a landing or ditching and were captured by the Japanese.

 

[Richard]

Here is a very recent video claiming that pieces of Amelia's plane may have been filmed on the ocean floor near a Pacific Island.

I would take the video's conclusions with a few grains of salt, since there have been so many others over the years. But the video does contain a lot of very interesting images of Amelia, Fred, and their plane.

Note that many images used in the video, including the one at the start, are NOT of the Lockheed Electra.

LINK:

 

[PommyMommy]

AUG 25, 2024

Amelia Earhart's missing plane's location may finally be found

Nearly 90 years after Amelia Earhart's mission to fly around the world ended in mystery, a team of explorers now believes they may have discovered the location of her missing plane

www.usatoday.com

Nearly 90 years after Amelia Earhart's mission to fly around the world ended in mystery, a team of explorers now believes they may have discovered the location of her missing plane

 

[PrairieWind]

AUG 25, 2024

Amelia Earhart's missing plane's location may finally be found

Nearly 90 years after Amelia Earhart's mission to fly around the world ended in mystery, a team of explorers now believes they may have discovered the location of her missing plane

www.usatoday.com

Nearly 90 years after Amelia Earhart's mission to fly around the world ended in mystery, a team of explorers now believes they may have discovered the location of her missing plane

This is interesting stuff. They are vague intentionally about the location but what they are saying for general location would make sense. I hope they can get back to follow up soon.

 

[cenazoic]

This was first reported back in January:


New Guinea - Amelia Earhart & Fred Noonan, en route to Howland Island, 2 July 1937

See also:

Have Researchers Found Amelia Earhart's Long-Lost Plane?

A new sonar image shows an airplane-shaped object resting on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, not far from where Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, went missing in 1937

www.smithsonianmag.com

I just did a brief search, but not finding any updates since then.

 

[PrairieWind]

This was first reported back in January:


New Guinea - Amelia Earhart & Fred Noonan, en route to Howland Island, 2 July 1937

See also:

Have Researchers Found Amelia Earhart's Long-Lost Plane?

A new sonar image shows an airplane-shaped object resting on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, not far from where Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, went missing in 1937

www.smithsonianmag.com

I just did a brief search, but not finding any updates since then.

I remember seeing it back then. I am guessing it will take time to secure funding to go back. It is interesting that today Pop Mechanics had an article about TIGHAR and their belief she went to Gardner Island and isn't everyone believing them.

 

[Richard]

An old book which would be of interest to anyone researching the Amelia Earhart disappearance would be "Amelia Earhart: The Final Story" by Vincent Loomis.

The author goes into much detail about her final flight and particularly into her radios and their capabilities.

Loomis was of the opinion that Amelia and Fred ditched the aircraft near Barre Island in Mili atoll, which is in the Marshall Islands. He felt that they were captured by the Japanese military and held as spies before they died.

He based his theory on many interviews he conducted with Marshallese native people and with his attempts to view official US and Japanese records.

 

[PrairieWind]

An old book which would be of interest to anyone researching the Amelia Earhart disappearance would be "Amelia Earhart: The Final Story" by Vincent Loomis.

The author goes into much detail about her final flight and particularly into her radios and their capabilities.

Loomis was of the opinion that Amelia and Fred ditched the aircraft near Barre Island in Mili atoll, which is in the Marshall Islands. He felt that they were captured by the Japanese military and held as spies before they died.

He based his theory on many interviews he conducted with Marshallese native people and with his attempts to view official US and Japanese records.

In all the reports I have read and podcasts I've heard and shows I've seen, I have seen reference and excerpts from this book. I guess I should just find it and read it fully for myself.

I am still of the mindset that most likely she and Fred ran out of gas trying to find Howland. But I am open to other evidence. I initially thought the idea of her being captured by the Japanese as just a crazy idea. But over the years as I have seen more of the evidence in support of the theory, the more I think it it certainly a very real possibility. There are certainly a LOT of witnesses who testify to seeing her and/or Fred or seeing evidence of them being in the Marshalls, including Admiral Nimitz saying she had been captured. Just no real physical evidence as yet.