Pacific Ocean. Gilbert Islands Planned course from Lae. Phoenix Islands. Makin Butaritari. Abaiang Marakei Tarawa Maiana Abemama Kuria Aranuka

Transcription

1 Makin Butaritari Abaiang Marakei Tarawa Maiana Abemama Kuria Aranuka Gilbert Islands Planned course from Lae. Howland (U.S. possessions) Baker Nonouti Tabiteuea Beru Tamana Onotoa Nikunau Aroroae Sunrise LOP 157 /337 Advanced LOP 157 /337 Phoenix Islands McKean Kanton Birnie Enderbury Phoenix Nikumaroro (Gardner) Orono (Hull) Manra (Sydney) Nanumea Nanumanga Niutao 200 NM Pacific Ocean TIGHAR Tracks p. 4

2 Form 2514 A Revised Oct TREASURY DEPARTMENT U. S. Coast Guard RADIO LOG USCGC Log ITASCA Jam Date 1 JULY 1937, 1937 L.G. BELLARTS CRM ON WATCH// ENTRIES TIME WATCH STARTED AT// SIGNALS HEARD LOGGED ONLY// 1900 VERY WEKA Ship s Log: SIGS USCG ON Itasca; Friday; / UNREADABLE 2 July, 1937AND SEEMED SHIFT ABOUT 1917 NO SIGS ON DURING PERIOD 1945/48 WATCH 0200 RELD Drifting BY GE to THOMPSON westward of Howland RM3C Island Wind; LG BELLARTS East, Force 2 CRM (light breeze) Temperature; 50 NO SIGS 81õF ON Sky Condition; clear Sea Condition; 1 (moderate swell, calm sea) KHAQQ DE NRUI A A A A A NRUI HOWLAND ISLAND A A A A A UNREADABLE FONE SIGS ON OR ABT X SENT WEA TO KHAQQ ON KHAQQ DE NRUI A A A A A NRUI HOWLAND ISLAND A A A A A A LISTENED Itasca nodded gently in tropical night, In fact, events of July 2, 1937 would FOR KHAQQ ON ND waiting, listening. Far to west, Lockheed become stuff of legend. Recorded in not only SENT WEA Electra flown by Amelia Earhart and navigator ship s log but in three radio logs as well, SENT WEA Fred Noonan / was KHAQQ inbound DE to NRUI Howland AAAAA Island, NRUI facts HOWLAND surrounding AAAAAA flight s failure to arrive at UNREADABLE its planned FONE mid-pacific SIGS ON refueling OR ABT stop enroute Howland Island would be interpreted in several LISTENED to Hawaii FOR and KHAQQ California - SEVERAL and completion CARRIERS of BUT official UNREADABLE reports and, over years, speculated GAVE WX TO first KHAQQ aerial circumnavigation of globe upon by countless searchers, researchers, authors, screen AAAAAA writers, and public at large. KHAQQ by DE a NRUI woman. A Everyone A AAAAAA knew NRUI that HOWLAND Earhart s ISLAND SEVERAL flight UNREADABLE from Lae, New CRRIERS Guinea across ON more OR ABT than Many solutions to mystery have been offered, some apparently logical, ors patently PLANE 2,500 UNHEARD miles of trackless ocean would be most challenging of her career and Itasca s job was absurd, but none offering any semblance of KHAQQ DE NRUI SENT WEA to stand by off Howland to render navigational proof. As with all legends, story has become KHAQQ assistance. DE NRUI On AAAAAAA shore, crewmen NRUI would HOWLAND chase AAAAAAAAAA skewed and stylized through endless retellings LISTENED birds FER off KHAQQ coral runway - SEVERAL for her landing UNREADABLE and from FONES differing BUT perspectives CANT MAKE until, OUT nearly sixty GAVE WX mechanics TO KAHQQ would ON service plane. Two wire years later, popular perception of what happened bears little resemblance to picture KHAQQ service DE NRUI reporters AAAAAAAAAA stood ready NRUI to describe HOWLAND AAAAAAAAAA LISTENED landing FER and KHAQQ interview BUT ND fliers. It would be a painted by original record SENT XXXXXxxxxxxxxxxx SEA memorable TO KHAQQ morning. SENT WEA TO KHAQQ ON Good conclusions can not be drawn from bad KHAQQ DE NRUI AAAAAAAAAA NRUI HOWLAND AAAAAAAAAA facts. A critical re-examination of Itasca s logs and new information made available by LISTENED FER KHAQQ BUT ND discovery of long-lost documents has enabled SENT WEA TO KHAQQ ON TIGHAR to piece toger a more accurate account of events of that morning. Especially KHAQQ DE NRUI AAAAAAAAAA NRUI HOWLAND AAAAAAAA LISTENED FER KHAQQ ON ND QRM FONES helpful ES UNREADABLE was an eight-page letter written days KHAQQ DE NRUI (GAVE HER OUR WEA ON ) after disappearance by Eric Chater, General GA Manager NOW of Guinea K (UNHRD) Airways and Earhart s KHAQQ DE NRUI AAAAA NRUI HOWLAND AAAA PSE KHAQQ UNHRD host in Lae. The letter, which describes in detail preparations made and difficulties SENT WX TO KHAQQ ON KHAQQ DE NRUI AAAAAAA NRUI HOWLAND AAAAA experienced PSE ANS by Earhart (UNHRD) and Noonan prior to departure, had been misfiled by recipient KHAQQ UNHRD and only surfaced in It answers many SENT WEA TO KHAQQ long-disputed questions about airplane and KHAQQ DE NRUI AAAAAAAAA NRUI HOWLAND AAAAAAAAAA its crew at time of final takeoff. Also of KHAQQ UNHRD great help is existence, in U.S. National SENT WEA TO KHAQQ Archives, of original sheets from Itasca s KHAQQ DE NRUI AAAAAAA NRUI HOWLAND AAAAAAAAA primary radio log for that morning. Tradition KHAQQ UNHRD Courtesy National Archives LGBellartS Finding Amelia 2 July SENT WEA TO KHAQQ ON Vol. 12 No. 2/3 p

3 KHAQQ DE NRUI AAAAAAAA NRUI HOWLAND AAAAAAAAAA WATCH RELD BY LG BELLARTS CRM GE THOMPSON RM3C 05 NOTHING HEARD ON KCS ally, logs are re-typed ( term is smood ) to correct errors and overstrikes, but in this SENT WEA case ON Itasca s chief radioman, Leo G. Bellarts, had foresight to save original messy 28 AAAAAAAA sheets. - The AAAA log NRUI is an invaluable HOWLAND tool in reconstructing what happened in Itasca s radio room ITASCA and TO aboard EARHART aircraft. / FONE // 36 HEARD EARHART Itasca Primary PLANE / BUT Radio UNREADABLE Log entry THRU for STATIC 11:55-58 p.m. July 1, /48 SENT WEATHER TO KHAQQ KHAqq DE NRUI (GAVE HER OUR WEA ON ) AAA AAA AAA ETC ETC TO KHAQQ/HOWLAND DE NRUI 04 NRUI is Itasca s call sign. Itasca s transmitter can not send voice on Kilocycles. This message repeated is sent wx in on Morse fone// code. The previous evening ship received word that Earhart had departed 0308 nothing Lae heard at 00:00 from Greenwich earhart// time (10:00 a.m. in Lae and 11:30 a.m. at Howland) that morning and 15/18 sent wx should at be expected at Howland 18 hours later, or 05:30 a.m. on July 2nd. The sun will not rise at 30 a a a Howland a a a de until 06:15 / a.m. howland but officers aboard Itasca think flight could easily take 20 hours. 34/ repeat wear NR16020: on fone For Earhart // and Noonan time is 11:25 Greenwich. Their 00:00 takeoff 35 means that y have been in air 11 hours and 25 minutes. In a message sent from Lae and earhart heard fone/ will lissen on half on -sez she 45/4-- received by Itasca two days before, Earhart specifically said she would use Greenwich time during broadcast flight. wear She does fone not know // that Itasca is, neverless, using local time which, at Howland, 0400 is repeated Greenwich wea on plus key/ 11 and 1 /2 hours. kcs/ Earhart also expects that Itasca will follow her requested 02 earhart radio unheard// schedule in which she listens for messages on hour and half hour, and transmits 15/18 brdsct messages wx on at key quarter and to fone// and quarter past hour. As Itasca s code message is being sent on 30/35, Earhart is tuning her receiver to to listen on half hour. When Itasca s tranmission ends sent wear /code/fone/ at 23:58 (11:28 for Earhart) kcs - she (heard probably earhart doesn t even (part have her cldy) headphones on, not 53 that it would make any difference. Not only is wear being sent on wrong frequency but 0500 earhart Earhart unheard// has repeatedly asked Coast Guard to report in English, not code, especially while 15/18 (I sent wx am) at- flying. fone Neir key- she nor Noonan can read Morse code. 30/35 aaaaaaaaaa Itasca Primary to Radio kcs// Log entry for 02:45-48 a.m. July 2, Itasca: KHAQQ is Earhart s radio call sign, DE is Morse code shorthand for from and HEARD EARHART PLANE / BUT UNREADABLE THRU STATIC 0245/48 Itasca: Although words are unintelligible, operator is confident transmission no hear is from during Earhart. In a later report, ship s ((setting captain, Cmdr. on Warner K. all Thompson, times// explained that 45/50 sent wear wire service / code reporters and key recognized kcs/ Earhart s voice (y had covered her flight to Hawaii in wants March). bearing In on same report, kcs// Thompson on hour// also alleged will whistle that operator in mic heard Earhart say cloudy 14// about and two overcast hundred at this miles time, out// but no appx// such phrase whistling// appears in nw log. 15 aaaaaaaa NR16020: () It - is (listening 14:15 Greenwich. thru Amelia s on ) transmission, whatever its content, is made 30- exactly on schedule. At this point flight is 14 hours and 15 minutes enroute and, according to aaaaa fuel management tables prepared for Earhart by Lockheed s Kelly Johnson, has expended 724 called of earhart 1,100 U.S. on gallons voice// of fuel aboard at takeoff. Johnson s procedures (see below) provide just 36 aaaaaaaaaa over 24 hours of endurance, to //pse leaving ackn a 20% (5 hour) reserve which, according to Army Air Corps 41 pse take Lt. Daniel bearing Cooper on aboard us and report Itasca, was in considered half hour-- standard for long-distance flights. 45 i will make moise in mic 46 aaaaaaaaaa 0705/ Fuel Management Procedures aaaaaaaa prepared - especially for Earhart by TIME ALTITUDE MANIFOLD PRESS. R.P.M. GAL./HR 08/12 aaaaa Lockheed etc// engineer Clarence L. 1 hour 0-8,000 ft inches Hg 2, /14 Kelly Johnson. 3 hours 8,000 ft. 28 inches Hg 1, aaaaaaa These power settings yielded a hours 8,000 ft 26.5 inches Hg 1, fone to earhart/ cruising speed cannot of 130 knots. take bearing 3 hours on 8,000 ft vy good/ 25 inches plese Hg send 1,700 on or du wish take bearing on Rest us / ga 10,000 pse// ft no answer 24 inches Hg 1, de a-s ga / unanswd fm itasca pls ga on kcs / unanswd TIGHAR / Tracks crm/dc p. 6 now on 25 de a-s ga / unanswd / / s main d/f 500 kcs 26-9

4 fm itasca pls y our sigs on key pls / unanswd 30 de a-s 31-4 de Itasca a-s, Primary kcs Radio Log entry for 03:45-4? a.m. July 2, de a-s, kcs 41 EARHART HEARD FONE/ WILL LISSEN ON HOUR AND HALF ON -SEZ SHE 45/4-- clng itasca we must on xx you but cannot see u but gas is schedule for receiving transmissions and that she will remain on Kilocycles. Although very running faint low (Strength been 1), unable this is to reach first intelligible you by message radio we received are flying by Itasca at and a operator attempts feet to clarify log entry by adding a dash and sez she at end. For some reason, de termination r msg time r for qsa message 5 r a-s is (500 not completed. es ) In later ga / reports, unanswd Cmdr. Thompson inserted 43-6 de word r overcast msg r into qsa5 this r message. as-x () The word does not appear in any of original logs nor 47-8 in report filed by Lt. Cooper who was present in radio room at this time. In short, fm notion itasca that ur Earhart msg ok flight pls encountered y wid a3, overcast a3/ wear / a-2 during fm night a2 (which would have thwarted celestial navigation) is not supported by original logs. cling itasca NR16020: we The are time circling is 15:15. but Once cannot more, Earhart s hr u ga transmission on wid is on aschedule. If on lng count course, eir flight now should or be on roughly skd 500 time nautical on miles 1/2 out hour and ( have recently s5 a3) passed over 58 de island of Tabiteuea a-s, in / ga Gilberts. (Islanders later reported that an aircraft was heard to pass high overhead that night.) If Earhart has followed Johnson s tables, her situation looks like this: clng itasca we recd we ur sigs but unable to get a minimum pse Fuel remaining: 338 gals. Hours of fuel remaining (at 38 gph): 8.9 hrs. Estimated time to Howland: bearing 3.8 hours. on us and ans wid voice / de lng dashes take on -/ 2 de pa ar SENT WEATHER /CODE/FONE/ KCS- - (HEARD EARHART (PART ClDY) Itasca: Fone refers to radiotelephone as opposed to Morse code. Earhart reaffirms her 2 giving to dpe tt no sigs on es impossible to wrk ita / r 04 fm itasca Itasca ur Primary sigs recd Radio ok we Log are entry unable for to hear 04:53 u a.m. to take July a 2, 1937 bearing it Itasca: impractical Close examination to take of a this bearing puzzling on entry reveals ur voice that it hw is actually do u made up of three separate notations. The first entry states that Itasca sent wear by both code and get tt voice ga on / unawd, ( correct frequency) at 53 minutes past hour ( wrong time again). The 05 de operator n ga on went back or and 500 added k, (note platen misalignment between first two dashes) 06 de a parentical ga 500 notation wid dashes that Earhart on 500 had been k / heard unanswd and had apparently said something about fm partly itasca cloudy. did In u a get third tt action, xmision reference on 7.5 to partly megs ga cloudy on 500 was typed kcs so over with a series of dashes which was continued on next line. The impression created by log, and expressed tt we may be able to take a bearing on u impossible to take a bearing on - pls acknwldge this xmision wid a3 on ga / unanswd 11 in Cmdr.Thompson s later reports, is that Earhart broke in off schedule. NR16020: The time is 16:23. At this point in flight, transmitting off schedule would de be very uncharacteristic rpting abve for info Earhart. on It would / appear no answr more likely that Itasca heard tail end of fm her itasca scheduled do 16:15 u hr transmision. my sigs on Her report kcs of partly or cloudy kcs conditions pls acknwldge agrees with Itasca s wid receipt Deck Log on for this time kcs period wid which a3 ga describes / unanswd clear skies with detached clouds. 15 wants bearing on kcs// on hour// will whistle in mic 14// about twwo hundred miles out// appx// whistling// nw 15 Itasca Primary Radio Log entry for 06:14-15 a.m. July 2, 1937 de repted above dpe on ga a3 ar / unanswd Itasca: The signal is now stronger (Strength 3) and consistent with estimate of two fm itasca wl u pls y our sigs on or ga wid a3 18 hundred miles out but Earhart s request for a bearing comes as a surprise. The Coast Guard unanswd expected to provide signals upon which Earhart would take bearings, not or way round. 19 de Besides, ga Itasca s a3 direction kcs wid finder report can not respond our sigs to a relatively high frequency such as de Also puzzling ga is Earhart s kcs wid apparent a3 es willingness xmit posn to wait rept 45 minutes qsa for on a our bearing sigs which would, 24-6 by n, be meaningless. itasca to earhart we xmiting constantly on 7.5 megs do u hr us kindly cfm receipt on we are standing by, a3/ 27 de ans a3 k / unanswd Vol. 12 No. 2/3 p

5 de ans kcs with report es posn, / unanswd 30-1 earhart fm itasca wl u pls cum in and ans on we are xmiting constantly on NR16020: kcs The we time do not is 17:44. hr So u on far, flight pls has ans been guided ga by / unanswd dead reckoning 33 and celestial de navigation ans but kcs now Noonan s wid a3 hw calculations our sig place qsa? ga/ aircraft unanswd approximately 200 miles lsnin from Howland / nil and - crm within tunin range up of assistance to16 fer from xmision radio direction to nmc finding. However, in a test nmc v flight p day ar, before, Earhart / unanswd had been unable to take a bearing on station at Lae, attributing problem to closeness of station. In fact, at no time during world flight is Earhart known to itasca to have successfully we are on used her line direction 157 finder. 337 we Clearly, wl rept her confidence msg we in wl rept technology, n es and s this in on her 6210 own ability kcs wait, to use it, /a3 was not high. s5 (?/ It is hardly xmision surprising we that are she running would prefer on43 to simply line lsnin provide 6210 a kcs signal / and have de someone hrd else tell u ok her on what direction kcs to xx, fly. She wants information 44-6 at her next scheduled receiving time: on hour Greenwich time, not in 45 minutes. PSE TAKE BEARING ON US AND REPORT IN HALF HOUR I NILL MAKE MOISE IN MIC -abt 100 miles out 0646 de Itasca pls Primary stay on Radio Log kcs entry do not for hr u 06:45-6 on 6210 a.m. maintain July qso 2, 1937 on, Itasca: / Frustration unanswd is mounting. Repeated attempts to establish contact and explain that 47 nil on Earhart s or unanticipated xx 6210 fm request is also / unreasonable de have ans received no kcs reply. Now she is once 48 again de asking ans for a bearing kcs but, ax inexplicably, / unanswd she is willing to wait half an hour for information The sun is up and her arrival should be imminent. Her transmission is received at Strength 4, de ur sigs ok on go ahead with posn on or 500 indicating that flight is drawing closer. However, although generally ascribed to Earhart, kcs words / unanswd about 100 miles out appear to be operator s. The notation was added sometime after lsnin original and entry 6210/500 (note kcs platen / nil misalignment) and is similar to SEZ SHE comment in 08 de 0345 entry. ans It s an important 500 ur point sigs because, ok on at 130 knots, ga wid airplane posn, cannot be 200 miles lsnin out 6210 at 06:15 es and miles nil / out 500 half nil an hour later. 14 lsnin, NR16020: 6210, 500 The and time 500 is 18:15. d/f The - nil requested bearing was not received at 18:00 nor has anything at all been heard from Itasca. Earhart tries again, sticking to schedule and asking 2 v - per to, ref hi frequency d/f, 34 for a bearing on half hour (not in half hour ). Meanwhile Noonan has taken a celestial observation de of rising ga on sun and has kcs, plotted a line / unanswd of position (LOP) which runs 337 to northwest 35 nil from and 157 to / souast., 6210, He can 500 place or this 500 line d/f very accurately on surface of earth and, through de : dead xmiting reckoning, dpe oretically on answing advance freqs line / until we can it falls hear through u fine intended on destination. When calculated time has elapsed he will know that he is on a 337/157 line that passes pls ga on, / unanswd 42-6 through Howland Island. The trouble is, he can t be sure just where on line y are, so if y nil from don t hit Howland on nose he will not know wher to turn left or right on line. That s 49 nil from why radio / bearing, is so 6210, important. 500 or Fuel 500 remaining d/f should be 224 gals. or 5.9 hours. If his two hundred v : miles - per out estimate to / get at 17:44 rdo was accurate compass and wrking y don t now, have a significant headwind (Itasca de was reporting we heard easterly you on winds at 7 kcs, knots), et y - should reach advanced line of position 03-5 and, ideally, Howland Island in about an hour. At this point lack of response on radio is npm npu disturbing, v but v-s if y zme can / see npm Howland v when int y zct reach int advanced zcy LOP it won t ar matter v npm zza int freq ar / / r zoz ar / did u here at KHAqq CLNG ITASCA WE MUST xx on ON YOU BUT CANNOT SEE U BUT GAS IS RUNNING LOW BEEN UNABLE TO REACH YOU BY RADIO WE ARE FLYING AT A 1000 FEET 42 all ar / Itasca zza r that Primary to to Radio npu / Log r (npm/ entry for /13380) 07:42 a.m. July - per 2, to v npm Itasca: ar / The npm situation v is rk growing / bxxx3 more b tense. nr3 It / is r clear as that Earhart has not heard Itasca s 14 to engaged transmissions npm: although xmiting y p msgs, are now receiving her at maximum strength (S5) indicating that she is within at least one hundred miles and possibly much closer. A second, less detailed, radio dc engaged npm: recving p, / lsnin constatnly, nil / bg log kept by ship records this message as EARHART ON NW SEZ RUNNING OUT OF GAS bg off to dc// 35 ONLY HALF HOUR LEFT CANT HEAR US AT ALL. Lt. Cooper s report and ship s Deck Log, however, both agree with primary radio log that phrase is GAS IS RUNNING LOW. TIGHAR Tracks p. 8

6 Cmdr. Thompson knows that flight should have enough fuel to stay aloft until noon. NR16020: The time is 19:12 and Howland has not appeared as hoped. Earhart has dropped down to 1,000 feet so as to get under scattered deck of clouds. She and Noonan believe y are very close to ir destination but really need to know which way to turn on line to find Howland. With 188 gals. remaining, enough for just 4.95 more hours, y are now burning ir reserve. Gas is running low. There is, however, a contingency plan that will guarantee landfall before fuel is exhausted. By turning right (157 ) and running down advanced line of position, one of four islands is bound to appear. If y are now too far north y will come to Howland. If y are already south of Howland n Baker, Mckean, or Gardner Island will eventually appear, provided y begin running souast on line when y have roughly three and a half hours of fuel remaining. Their situation at this point is serious but not desperate. Courtesy Purdue University Library Special Collections KHAQq CLNG ITASCA WE ARE circling drifting BUT CANNOT HR U GA ON WID A LNG COUNT EITHER NW OR ON THE SKD TIME ON 1 HOUR (KHAQQ S5 A3) Itasca Primary Radio Log entry for 07:58 a.m. July 2, 1937 Itasca: Apparently Earhart s transmissions are coming in so loud that speakers are distorting her words. At first operator thinks he hears WE ARE DRIFTING BUT CANNOT HEAR YOU but that can t be right so he goes back, partially erases DRIFTING and types in CIRCLING, which seems more reasonable to him. There is also confusion about how much fuel she has left. If Earhart is really expecting to run out of gas at 08:12 (HALF HOUR LEFT at 07:42) why is she asking Itasca to GO AHEAD ON KILOCYCLES WITH A LONG COUNT EITHER NOW OR ON THE SCHEDULED TIME ON THE HALF HOUR by which time she will already be in water? NR16020: The time is 19:28 and situation is now serious enough that Earhart, for first time, departs from her regular transmission schedule. She probably says, WE ARE LISTENING BUT CANNOT HEAR YOU n asks for a long count on eir now or in two minutes. Having failed in repeated attempts to get ship to take a bearing on her, she will try to use her direction finder to take a bearing on ship. KHAqq CLNG ITASCA WE RECD xx we UR SIGS BUT UNABLE TO GET A MINIMUM PSE TAKE BEARING ON US AND ANS WID VOICE / NRUI DE KHAQQ LNG DASHES ON -/ NRUI2 DE NRUI P AR Itasca Primary Radio Log entry for 08:00-03 a.m. July 2, 1937 Itasca: The ship can not give Earhart a long count on Kilocycles because its transmitter is incapable of sending voice on that frequency, but it does repeat letter A in Morse Vol. 12 No. 2/3 p. 9

7 code (dit dah, dit dah, dit dah), prearranged signal for homing transmissions from Itasca. Earhart reports hearing signal but is unable to get a minimum and again asks Itasca to take a bearing on her. She sends long dashes on. NR16020: The time is 19:30. Earhart switches to her loop antenna and, for first time, hears radio signals. It is not human voice she hoped to hear but at least repeated letter A indicates that Itasca has heard her. Turning loop antenna mounted over her head, she attempts to get signal to fade away ( get a minimum ) which will enable her to take a bearing, but her direction finder cannot respond to such a high frequency. She reverts to her previous attempts to get m to take a bearing on her. KHAqq TO ITASCA WE ARE ON THE LINE xx we WL REPT MSG WE WL REPT N ES S THIS ON 6210KCS WAIT, /A3 S5 (?/KHAqq XMISION WE ARE RUNNING ON43 xx LINE 43 Itasca Primary Radio Log entry for 08:43 a.m. July 2, 1937 Itasca: Nothing has been heard from Earhart for nearly three quarters of an hour during which time Itasca has been trying to reach her almost constantly. The HALF HOUR GAS LEFT deadline is long since past when suddenly Earhart is back, very loud. The operator, apparently caught off guard, has already logged in or traffic at 08:44 and 08:45 which he strikes over and alters to 08:42 and 08:43 so that new Earhart message will appear in sequence. She reports that she is on line 157/337 and will repeat message on her or frequency, 6210 Kilocycles. Then she says, wait. The operator has just typed in end notations ( frequency), A3 (voice), S5 (Strength 5) when, quite unexpectedly, Earhart says something about running on line. The resulting log entry is so jumbled as to be impossible to reliably decipher, but has been traditionally represented as We are running north and south. Whatever words were, y were last Itasca would hear from Earhart. NR16020: The time is 20:13 and, in spite of everything, Earhart is still sticking very close to her radio schedule. She may also have made her scheduled 19:45 (08:15 local time) transmission to Itasca but it wasn t heard because, as log shows, Itasca was trying to call her at just that time. For past hour she and Noonan have been running back and forth on and near line of position hoping to spot island. Noonan can, of course, take additional sun shots but it will be anor two hours or so before sun will have changed enough to give him a reliable cut across his original 337/157 line. There are now 150 gals, just under 4 hours, of fuel remaining aboard aircraft. They will soon have no choice but to begin running souast on line of position. Due to skip characteristics of 6210 Kilocycles, Earhart s decision to switch to that frequency effectively shuts off any furr reception by Itasca. Conclusion: The Coast Guard s official position that Earhart flight ran out of fuel and crashed at sea shortly after final transmission heard by Itasca is not supported by facts. TIGHAR Tracks p. 10