The First Lady of the Air(II)

17 The First Lady of the Air (I) To the public, Amelia Earhart's goal seemed unattainable. “ Fly an airplane around the globe? Impossible! " they thought. But Amelia was a determined woman on a mission. In her mind, nothing could get in her way. She and her assistant, Noonan, set out on her last mission on May 21, 1937. If all went well, she would be back in California in a few weeks. She would celebrate her 40th birthday with her family and friends. Her voyage captured the imaginations of people everywhere. They followed her every move on that historic flight. As Earhart's journey continued, news of her flight made the front page of newspapers around the world. People read about her success as she got from California to Florida, then along the east coast of South America and across the Atlantic to North Africa. People in Singapore cheered her on as she steadily worked on making her dream a reality. Many people began to believe that this female pilot would actually be successful.

On June 30, 1937, Earhart and Noonan arrived in Lae, New Guinea. They had already travelled 35, 406 kilometres, and had only 11, 265 kilometres left to go. On July 1, they took off from Lae, New Guinea for the last and most dangerous part of the flight. Their next destination was Howland Island, a tiny island in the Pacific Ocean. As she approached the island on the morning of July 2, after nineteen hours in the air, she sent several radio messages asking about the weather. A new weather report describing heavy clouds and rain northwest of Howland had been issued. Several more transmissions were received from her, asking for directions. Then, radio contact was lost. She never reached her destination. The world waited for days as a massive search took place. No sign of her plane or its wreckage was ever found. It was as if she had disappeared into thin air. For years afterwards, there were reports of Earhart sightings. Today, people are still searching for answers to what happened. One thing is certain though. Amelia Earhart will always be “ the first lady" of pioneering pilots.