"That plane got away from her."

CXCV

Purdue University trumpeted the beginning of the March 17, 1937 Worldflight

Although Amelia Earhart’s Worldflight was a private venture backed by George Putnam’s personal wealth, donations, and Purdue University, the government of the United States planned to spend millions in supporting the venture. Many of the areas Earhart planned to overfly had neither been mapped nor photographed extensively by the United States and Amelia was asked --- perhaps directed --- to do so. As of the late 1930s, the British and French Colonial Ministries did not share data with each other or with any foreign power. Likewise, the Japanese were even more reticent --- not to say increasingly hostile --- in regard to U.S. survey flights. At least Amelia’s friends in Europe were able to smooth her path, as was the U.S. State Department.  Amelia was granted Laissez Passer in a wide variety of local and tribal languages --- everything from Arabic to Batak Toba --- announcing that she was on a special mission at the behest of the President of the United States, the Premier of France, and the King of England, and requesting that the locals render her and her companions any aid they might require. 

Caches of fuel and supplies were stashed across the world. Together with hired airplane mechanics, they constituted the logistical support for the Worldflight

There were practical worries. Much of her air route, though known in general, was terra incognita on the ground.  Warlike isolated sub-Saharan tribes might attack the crippled Electra were it to be forced down as it overflew the Sahel. Cannibals and headhunters were known to still practice their rites in remote corners of the world like New Guinea. Fuel and airplane parts were not readily available in most places, and so fully-stocked crews, complete with mechanics, tools, fuel, oil, and virtually every part the Electra might need, were dispatched to every staging stop --- all at cost to the Putnams.   

The overwater legs were each as daunting as the flight from San Francisco to Honolulu. The United States Navy announced that it would be posting a line of guard ships, the U.S.S. Duane, the U.S.S. Ontario, and the U.S.S. Swan, along the route of the Samoan Clipper in the event the Pan American flying boat was forced down at sea, and so Amelia’s Worldflight was scheduled so she could take advantage of this happy coincidence as she overflew the open waters of the Pacific. 

Amelia wrote to Franklin Delano Roosevelt:

The route, compared with previous flights, will be unique . . .  It is east to west and approximates the Equator . . . from San Francisco to Honolulu . . . to Tokio . . . or to Brisbane; as far west as Karachi . . . to Aden . . . via Khartoum across central Africa to Dakar; Dakar to Natal, and thence to New York on the regular Pan American route.

  

 

Liftoff from Oakland was scheduled on March 17, 1937. Officially, the flight was to begin in Oakland and end in New York (an incomplete circumnavigation), but the Electra first had to be flown across country, and Amelia used the long transcontinental hop to shake down the plane, rather unnecessarily as it was, since she had been flying the Electra constantly since July 24, 1936. But it was a good way to get a feel for the plane’s handling under a full load, and she had her full crew with her. Mantz was co-piloting, while Manning and Noonan shared the Navigator duty (in truth, there was little for them to do except plot the course to the next beacon). It was a cramped flight, the interior of the plane reeked with fuel, Amelia felt both nauseous and dizzy, and nerves were fraying between the three men. 

Upon arrival at Oakland, it was decided that Mantz would fly only as far as Honolulu, that Noonan would handle navigating the arduous Honolulu-to-Howland Island hop, and that Manning would fly on to Brisbane; after that, Amelia would fly solo. 

Bad weather at Oakland caused a long delay in beginning the flight Amelia seemed oddly unwilling to leave in unclear weather. 

Over the next several days, the crew arrangements shifted and shifted again and again. By the time the Lockheed Electra 10E Special left California on March 17^th,  it was unclear who would stay aboard and who wouldn’t and when. Likely, plans changed several times en route to Honolulu. The 2,402 mile hop was made in a record time of fifteen hours and 47 minutes, more than an hour better than the China Clipper’s previous record.

 

Paul Mantz, Amelia Earhart, Harry Manning and Fred Noonan pose happily in front of the Lockheed Model 10E Special the day before liftoff

An unplanned aviation “first” took place a few hours out of Oakland as the Electra met the China Clipper coming the other way. It was the first time two transoceanic aircraft had crossed paths in the air. To waves, smiles, and radio chatter, Fred Noonan and Ed Musick said their hellos and goodbyes.   

  

Amelia was exhausted as the Electra neared Hawaii. Several hours out of Oahu she relinquished the controls to Paul Mantz, who let her sleep until the Hawaiian Islands came into view. She took back the controls for the landing, but he aided her from the right-hand seat, reading off the checklist of pre-landing instructions. 

Amelia landed flawlessly at Luke Field (Pearl Harbor) on the Eighteenth of March, 1937. The fact that Mantz had flown, and the fact that he was assisting, remained generally unknown. The fact that he did fly and did assist should have alerted Amelia (and George back in New York) to the fact that she was attempting what was effectively a solo flight in an airliner designed for a flight deck crew of two. If it meant anything to them they ignored it. 

They also ignored Amelia’s surprisingly thick fatigue upon reaching Hawaii. Her weariness probably should have been, but wasn’t, a huge red flag in relation to the whole plan. Maybe the Electra was too much plane to fly alone over vast distances. At just 21.5 cubic feet the Electra’s cockpit was tiny; Amelia called it a “cubbyhole.” Simply being cooped up at the controls for twenty hour stretches was enough to wear a person to a frazzle.

The crawlspace of the cabin. The Lockheed Electra was a durable plane but not truly designed for endurance flying

For most of the Worldflight Amelia was slated to be the only pilot. Mantz’s role was unsettled as they neared Honolulu and neither Noonan nor Manning were checked out on the Electra. Assuming that Mantz would drop out as he seemed to want to, there would be nobody to spell Amelia at the controls if she became fatigued, and certainly no opportunity for a reinvigorating nap. Though the Oakland-to-Honolulu leg was the longest of the entire flight by several hundred miles, it wasn’t the most arduous. By 1937, the Orient Express route was well-traveled. There was plenty of radio chatter. There were ships constantly plying the surface route. There were, as they’d all seen, the Clippers themselves. The odds of having to ditch between California and Hawaii were slim, but if Amelia was forced down there was an excellent chance she (and her crewmen) would be rescued. 

None of that was true beyond Hawaii. The Honolulu-to-Howland Island leg wasn’t quite so long, but the sea traffic between the two islands was nil, the Electra’s path deviated utterly from the well-trod Orient Express route, and the target was far smaller and far more silent than the Hawaiian archipelago. If worse came to worst, Amelia could always lock on to Hawaii’s 24-hour commercial radio stations. Howland, at less than two square miles, had a squad of radiomen. There was always a chance, and a far greater one than in Hawaii, that Howland could miss Amelia’s signal --- KHAQQ --- or vice-versa.   

After the March 20^th ground loop the Electra needed extensive rebuilding. Note that the engine nacelles have been removed. Also note the crushed landing gear. As for the accident, it was almost certainly due to Amelia’s improper gunning of the engines to avoid a slewing tail at liftoff, a very normal occurrence

 

The Electra needed maintenance when it reached Hawaii, but “weather” socked in the airport the next day, at least according to George Palmer Putnam’s propaganda machine. Anyone on Oahu who knew the sky knew it was a brilliant and perfect day for flying. Yet Amelia stayed grounded. 

According to Manning and Mantz Earhart slept most of the 19^th away, having been awake all night worrying about the navigation problem of tiny Howland Island. Fred Noonan for his part had perfect confidence he could find the island. It was decided, finally, that Mantz, Manning and Noonan would stay aboard to ensure a safe arrival at Howland. 

Having kept to her bed all day on the 19^th, Amelia had depended upon the ground crew and her three compatriots to load the plane up with necessary supplies and fuel --- over a thousand pounds of it. 

When she revved the Electra up on the morning of the 20^th, the heavy plane rumbled along the runway sluggishly, finally beginning to gain some momentum. It was at that moment that the tail slewed. 

Feeling the slew, Amelia reacted instinctively, and wrongly. Rather than working the rudder pedals, she gunned the opposite engine, increasing the possibility of a ground loop. The plane teetered on one wheel, the strained landing gear strut collapsed, and the plane spun around on its belly, throwing sparks. Miraculously, there was no fire.   

As soon as the Electra started to ground loop, Amelia killed all the power, which is probably what saved the crew. People later said they saw a tire blow, though it’s likely the tire gave way under strain rather than causing the accident. George immediately put out an announcement that the plane was “improperly balanced,” a public remark which offended the Navy ground crew that had serviced the plane and their commanders who had looked after it. It did not help his public reputation. 

As for Amelia in the cockpit, she had bumped her head rather hard against the electronics equipment above her seat. “Something must have gone wrong,” she mumbled as Paul Mantz helped her out of the cockpit; oddly, she had climbed over the gas tanks behind her rather than opening the hatch above her seat. 

“Yeah,” Mantz muttered. “Pilot error.”

“That plane got away from her,” Manning said. 

Of the crew, only Fred Noonan seemed to have maintained his sang-froid. He folded up his charts carefully, gathered up his equipment and tools, and announced to a gathering crowd that he would be ready to go again as soon as Amelia gave the word. She was already announcing another Worldflight on another part of the field.

 

Shortly before the Worldflight George had Amelia appear in a promotional film