Though Amelia Earhart disappeared on this day in 1937, her name is still recognized and immediately associated with aviation. Born on July 24, 1897 in Atchison, Kansas, her love for flying was born in December 1920 when she took her first airplane ride with WWI pilot Frank Hawks. One year later, she earned her pilot’s license.
In her career as an aviator, she won several awards or was noted for certain accomplishments.
- First female aviaor to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean
- First woman to fly solo nonstop across the United States
- Set altitude records for autogyros
- Co-founder of The Ninety-Nines, an organization for female pilots
- First woman to fly solo from Hawaii to the U.S. mainland
- First woman to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean1
- Set a world record when she became the first woman to fly solo at the altitude of 14,000 feet
- Breaks flying speed record
- Receives the National Geographic Society medal2, Distinguished Flying Cross, Légion d’honneur, National Aviation Hall of Fame, and National Women’s Hall of Fame3
With her flight navigator, Fred Noonan, Earhart left Oakland, California on June 1, 1937 in an attempt to be the first pilot to fly around the world. In a “twin-engine Lockheed 10E Electra… they flew to Miami, then down to South America, across the Atlantic to Africa, then east to India and Southeast Asia. The pair reached Lae, New Guinea, on June 29. When they reached Lae, they already had flown 22,000 miles. They had 7,000 more miles to go before reaching Oakland.
“Earhart and Noonan departed Lae for tiny Howland Island—their next refueling stop—on July 2. It was the last time Earhart was seen alive. She and Noonan lost radio contact with the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Itasca, anchored off the coast of Howland Island, and disappeared en route.”4
President Roosevelt authorized a two-week search for the missing pilot and navigator. No wreckage or indication of what happened could be found. Through the years, many theories have been suggested. Some believe that her plane crashed and sunk near Howland Island. Others believe she was 350 miles off course and landed on the uninhabited Gardner Island. Some have postulated that they were captured by the Japanese while another wild conjecture is that they were spies sent by Roosevelt and upon returning to the United States, they were given secret identities.
NPR reported on January 29, 2024 that “Deep Sea Vision, an ocean exploration company based in South Carolina, announced Saturday, [January 27] that it captured compelling sonar images of what could be Earhart’s aircraft at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean… about 100 miles off Howland Island.”5 Further exploration is to be conducted throughout this year.
Where’s Amelia? Only God knows – and He does! Psalms 139:7-12 says, “
Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? (8) If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. (9) If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; (10) Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. (11) If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. (12) Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.”
There’s no hiding from God. No escaping His sight. Nothing of our lives shrouded in mystery. God knows where Amelia’s remains are buried by the sands or sediment of nearly a century. And God knows her eternal whereabouts today.
Though our lives are fragile and will be extinguished in this world, we are going to live forever somewhere – either Heaven or Hell. And we will be there for eternity.
I’m sure Amelia and Fred weren’t planning to die on July 2, 1937. They probably had many more records in mind to be made or broken. Normally, though, we don’t get an advance warning that today is the day. We just have to be ready.
“While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.” (Hebrews 3:15)
1https://www.havefunwithhistory.com/amelia-earhart-accomplishments/
2https://www.history.com/news/snapshots-of-amelia-earharts-legendary-life
3https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelia_Earhart#Marriage_to_George_Putnam
4https://www.history.com/topics/exploration/amelia-earhart
5https://www.npr.org/2024/01/29/1227574179/amelia-earharts-lost-plane-howland-island
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