After 70 years, the mystery of what happened to Amelia Earhart still captures our imagination.  Historians and researchers still debate over her final radio transmissions in hopes of making some sense as to what happened to this icon of early aviation.  It's as if poor Amelia and navigator Fred Noonan had vanished from the face of the earth, forever.

Recently, while searching the archives at Purdue University, I came across a photograph of Amelia and Fred holding up a map of the Pacific leg of their journey. Enlarging the map I could see details of information which had been left behind by the two flyers.  The information in this photo clearly shows some planning or intentions on their behalf.  I have presented these photos so you can decide for yourself.

I often wondered why the final radio transmissions did not make any sense.  The logs and transcripts seemed disconnected from someone low on fuel desperately seeking the safety of a landing area which they could not find.  Much of Earhart's communication was short and abrupt. Only once had two way radio communication been established with the coast guard cutter Itasca.  When acknowledged, it was greeted with silence as if Amelia Earhart had simply turned her radio off. For the next 44 minutes there was no communication at all. Her final transmission gave little insight to their location:  "We are on the line 157 North 337 South, we are running north and south."  That was the last time the Itasca ever heard from Amelia and Fred. The line of position 157 North from the vicinity of Howland Island leads out to the vast northern Pacific Ocean.  The line of position 337 South points directly to the Phoenix Islands.

Could it be that Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan never intended to land at Howland Island?  The photos below possibly reveal the secret.

Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan.  This photo is from the Purdue Library website. The  location information is located at the bottom of this page. This photo was taken some time after the failed first attempt and during the second around the world flight. It is a map of the Pacific area where Earhart and Noonan disappeared July 2, 1937.

Closer view of the map.  There is a first cluster of markings west along the line from the California. This represents a cluster of ships which were to be stationed halfway between Hawaii and California to assist Earhart on her arrival back to the United States. The next cluster of markings southwest of the ships identify Hawaii. And further West are some markings for  Howland Island.  The majority of the writing here is centered around Hawaii so I can assume that this is the Pacific leg of the trip with detailed notes of making an approach for Hawaii.

This picture clears up the question of which cluster of notes pertain to Hawaii. Two maps were used and  reference lines drawn.  The city and state locations are on the bottom map. Fred's chart over lays on top. Hawaii, San Diego, the Galapagos all show through from the bottom map. A simple technique of making the top photograph semi-transparent was used.

 

An untouched version of the Howland Island and Hawaii area of the map.  Note the darker lines showing the intended route to Howland Island.  Below this route there is an obvious curved line.

 

An overlay of two maps. Fred and Amelia's map on top of a map of the Pacific using several specific reference points. Notice the bottom curve line runs through the Phoenix Islands including Gardner Island, Hull Island, up to Palmyra, then onto Hawaii.  The Phoenix Island route in this photo appears to be more appealing as it crosses through several islands where there are no islands on the intended Howland Island route to the north.

It's possible that Amelia Earhart changed her landing point from Howland Island to the Phoenix Islands.  The US Navy had chosen her landing point at Howland Island for her, but perhaps she knew this was un-obtainable.  There was no secondary landing area.  There was no where to turn back to.  It was a very bad choice.  Perhaps she went against orders to land there and chose the more appealing route instead.  To understand this better, one would have to read up on what was happening in the Phoenix Islands during this time frame which prevented the US Navy from choosing the Phoenix Island route in the first place.  There was a reason they did not want her in the area.  One would have to understand the events taking place with mail routes between New Zealand and Hawaii and Pan Am during this time frame.  How the British played a part in this as well.  The Navy simply did not want her in the area.

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