Who was Amelia Earhart? Achievements, explorations and legend about her disappearance
Explorers believe they have found the wreckage of Amelia Earhart’s plane after nine decades. The aviation pioneer achieved much before her disappearance.
Aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart is once again hogging the headlines after explorers announced they believed they had found the wreckage of her plane. Deep Sea Vision, a private exploration company, said sonar images from a deep-sea drone show that the plane lies on the ocean floor more than 16,000 feet beneath the surface halfway between Hawaii and Australia.
Earhart disappeared after she took off in an attempt to circumnavigate the globe in 1937. She would have been the first female pilot to achieve the feat had she succeeded.
Who was Amelia Earhart? Achievements, explorations and legend about her disappearance
Amelia Mary Earhart was born on July 24, 1897, in Atchison, Kansas, and went on to become an iconic figure in the history of aviation.
She achieved many milestones in her field, including being the first woman to fly solo nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean. She accomplished this feat on May 20 to 21,1932, flying from Harbor Grace, Newfoundland, to Londonderry, Northern Ireland. She piloted her Lockheed Vega, an aircraft model that gained fame in the early days of aviation, over a distance of approximately 2,026 miles.
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Amelia Earhart: Breaking gender barriers
Earhart was also the first woman to fly solo across the Pacific. She completed the flight from Honolulu, Hawaii, to Oakland, California, in 1935, making her the first person, man or woman, to fly solo across both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
In 1922, she set a women’s altitude record of 14,000 feet while flying a Kinner Airster biplane, and was also the first woman to fly solo nonstop across the United States. She flew from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey, covering a distance of almost 4,000 miles.
Earhart made several transatlantic flights, both solo and with other pilots. Her contributions to long-distance flight helped pave the way for advancements in aviation.
An inspiration to women
The pilot was a prominent advocate for women in her field and an inspirational figure for all adventurers. She wrote articles and books about her experiences, including her best-selling book “The Fun of It.” She was one of the founding members of The Ninety-Nines, an international organization of female pilots established in 1929 to provide mutual support and promote the advancement of women in aviation.
Her last flight was an ambitious attempt to circumnavigate the globe, a journey covering approximately 29,000 miles. Unfortunately, the expedition ended in tragedy, as Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, disappeared over the central Pacific Ocean.
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Earhart’s pioneering spirit, courage, and achievements have left a lasting legacy in the history of aviation. Her contributions to breaking gender barriers in this male-dominated sphere continue to inspire generations of women to pursue careers in the field. Despite her mysterious disappearance, Earhart’s impact on aviation and her role as a symbol of courage live on.
How her voyage turned out remains one of the greatest mysteries in modern history. Numerous theories have been put forth about what happened, none of them conclusive. If the latest undersea discovery does prove to be the wreckage of her plane, some light may finally be shed on the intriguing circumstances surrounding Amelia Earhart’s final, ill-fated flight.