assuming the sun line course, they would have flown past the island.
Two minutes before the Itasca âs scheduled broadcast time (1928 GCT), Earhart transmitted on 3,105 kilocycles: âKHAQQ calling Itasca. We are circling but cannot hear you. Go ahead on 7,500 either now or on the scheduled time on half-hour.â After receiving some Morse code signals, Earhart transmitted again at 1930 GCT: âKHAQQ calling Itasca. We received your signals but unable to get a minimum. Please take bearing on us and answer 3,105 with voice.â Following this, she sent a series of long dashes in the hope that the ship could get a bearing on her. By this time, the Electra had only one-quarter tank of fuel remaining. This would give them thirty-five to forty minutes of flying time left.
At 2013 GCT, Earhart, speaking rapidly, transmitted on 3105: âWe are on the line of position 157â337. Will repeat this message. We will repeat this message on 6,210 kilocycles. We are running north and south.â
This was the last broadcast any of the designated stations ever picked up from Earhart. She was gone, and the immediate determination by United States Navy and Coast Guard, backed by U.S. government officials, was that the Electra crashed into the ocean somewhere near Howland Island, thus generating one of the greatest mysteries in history.
Over the next few days, newspapers across the world sported headlines relating to Earhartâs and Noonanâs disappearance, that they crashed and sank into the Pacific Ocean. Americans as well as others remained riveted to their radios and read newspapers as they followed the progress of the search for the missing aviatrix and her navigator.
⢠19 ⢠Flight Questions
N umerous questions were subsequently raised relative to Earhartâs flight that have yet to be answered adequately. For one, why were Earhart and Noonan unable to see the dense column of smoke emitted by the Itasca at a time when the shipâs radio operators were convinced she was close to the vessel, if not directly overhead? It has been reported that similar plumes of smoke were able to be seen for great distances with little difficulty, and such a measure was used effectively numerous times in the past. Such a plume would have been impossible to miss. The answer may lie in the notion that Earhart and Noonan were nowhere near the Itasca . Subsequent research is strongly suggestive of the possibility that the Electra was in the area of the Marshall Islands over eight hundred miles to the northwest.
Related to the above, why was Noonanâs navigation presumed to be so far off that they were unable to find Howland Island? Up to the point of arriving near their designated destination, as many believe they did, Noonanâs navigating skills had served them well on the journey. It must be pointed out that he navigated them across the vast expanse of the Atlantic Ocean and the Sahara Desert only days earlier with little to no difficulty. Noonan had successfully navigated more than a dozen flights to Wake Island during his days with Pan American Airways. Wake Island was not much bigger than Howland. It should have been a simple task to locate the island.
Why couldnât Earhart get a minimum with her Bendix direction finder? It is an established fact that Earhart was less than competent and relatively uncooperative when it came to utilizing specialized radio equipment. Fred Noonan, however, was not only an accomplished and competent navigator, he knew his way around such communication devices and could have transmitted and received information easily. There is no evidence that any of the radio equipment was faulty. A possible answer may lie in the notion that Earhart, assuming she was on a clandestine aerial survey mission for the U.S. government, did not want her precise location identified.
Why couldnât Earhart hear the transmissions from the Itasca on 3,105 kilocycles? The fact that she did
Two minutes before the Itasca âs scheduled broadcast time (1928 GCT), Earhart transmitted on 3,105 kilocycles: âKHAQQ calling Itasca. We are circling but cannot hear you. Go ahead on 7,500 either now or on the scheduled time on half-hour.â After receiving some Morse code signals, Earhart transmitted again at 1930 GCT: âKHAQQ calling Itasca. We received your signals but unable to get a minimum. Please take bearing on us and answer 3,105 with voice.â Following this, she sent a series of long dashes in the hope that the ship could get a bearing on her. By this time, the Electra had only one-quarter tank of fuel remaining. This would give them thirty-five to forty minutes of flying time left.
At 2013 GCT, Earhart, speaking rapidly, transmitted on 3105: âWe are on the line of position 157â337. Will repeat this message. We will repeat this message on 6,210 kilocycles. We are running north and south.â
This was the last broadcast any of the designated stations ever picked up from Earhart. She was gone, and the immediate determination by United States Navy and Coast Guard, backed by U.S. government officials, was that the Electra crashed into the ocean somewhere near Howland Island, thus generating one of the greatest mysteries in history.
Over the next few days, newspapers across the world sported headlines relating to Earhartâs and Noonanâs disappearance, that they crashed and sank into the Pacific Ocean. Americans as well as others remained riveted to their radios and read newspapers as they followed the progress of the search for the missing aviatrix and her navigator.
⢠19 ⢠Flight Questions
N umerous questions were subsequently raised relative to Earhartâs flight that have yet to be answered adequately. For one, why were Earhart and Noonan unable to see the dense column of smoke emitted by the Itasca at a time when the shipâs radio operators were convinced she was close to the vessel, if not directly overhead? It has been reported that similar plumes of smoke were able to be seen for great distances with little difficulty, and such a measure was used effectively numerous times in the past. Such a plume would have been impossible to miss. The answer may lie in the notion that Earhart and Noonan were nowhere near the Itasca . Subsequent research is strongly suggestive of the possibility that the Electra was in the area of the Marshall Islands over eight hundred miles to the northwest.
Related to the above, why was Noonanâs navigation presumed to be so far off that they were unable to find Howland Island? Up to the point of arriving near their designated destination, as many believe they did, Noonanâs navigating skills had served them well on the journey. It must be pointed out that he navigated them across the vast expanse of the Atlantic Ocean and the Sahara Desert only days earlier with little to no difficulty. Noonan had successfully navigated more than a dozen flights to Wake Island during his days with Pan American Airways. Wake Island was not much bigger than Howland. It should have been a simple task to locate the island.
Why couldnât Earhart get a minimum with her Bendix direction finder? It is an established fact that Earhart was less than competent and relatively uncooperative when it came to utilizing specialized radio equipment. Fred Noonan, however, was not only an accomplished and competent navigator, he knew his way around such communication devices and could have transmitted and received information easily. There is no evidence that any of the radio equipment was faulty. A possible answer may lie in the notion that Earhart, assuming she was on a clandestine aerial survey mission for the U.S. government, did not want her precise location identified.
Why couldnât Earhart hear the transmissions from the Itasca on 3,105 kilocycles? The fact that she did
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