Amelia Earhart in the cockpit of her Lockheed Electra 10-E [Credit: Purdue University Libraries]
Key Takeaways:
President Donald Trump ordered the declassification of 88-year-old records concerning Amelia Earhart's 1937 disappearance, which are now available from the National Archives.
The declassified files include a 1936 letter from Earhart to President Roosevelt, outlining her around-the-world flight plans, requesting Navy cooperation for potential refueling over Midway Island, and stating the non-commercial, exploratory purpose of her journey.
Reports from the extensive 16-day search detail Earhart's final radio transmissions indicating low fuel and navigational uncertainty near Howland Island, while the records also touch on enduring theories for her disappearance, such as capture by the Japanese.
It has been 88 years since Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan disappeared over the South Pacific. But until now the records of the search have remained classified.
Meg Godlewski has been an aviation journalist for more than 24 years and a CFI for more than 20 years. If she is not flying or teaching aviation, she is writing about it. Meg is a founding member of the Pilot Proficiency Center at EAA AirVenture and excels at the application of simulation technology to flatten the learning curve. Follow Meg on Twitter @2Lewski.
