Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan Disappear on Round-the-World Flight

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On May 21, 1937, Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan began a round-the-world flight, beginning in Oakland, California, and traveling east in a twin-engine Lockheed Electra. They departed Miami on June 1 and reached Lae, New Guinea, on June 29, having flown 21 of 30 days and covered 22,000 miles. They left Lae on July 2 for their next refueling stop, Howland Island. They never found it.

Following a massive sea and air search, on July 18, 1937, they were declared lost at sea.

Fred Noonan climbs into the Electra where he usually sat in the back and communicated with Earhart via notes fastened to a fishing line.