Replies

She had a radio, but it has been reported that neither she nor Noonan were proficient with using it or flying by radio signals. There were US Navy ships in the area that could have responded to her radio, but unless the signal strength could have been use to triangulate her location, it wouldn't have helped. When you're lost, you're lost and the Navy couldn't have helped her get "unlost."

She was a fairly proficient aviatrix and definitely a risk taker, but lacked skills with instrument flying and flying over the open ocean (so did a lot of other aviators). Finding an island was a tough thing to do at that time. Not easy like finding a coastline. Many aviators in the south Pacific had close calls - nearly missing their targets - and some had the same fate as Earhart and were never found.

I don't disagree with any of your points. Perhaps the most famous person to miss an island and crash in the Pacific during World War II was Eddie Rickenbacker, although he wasn't the pilot on that flight.

My original comment was focused on the factual error to which I was responding.

There was a program, maybe on the History Channel, about Earhardt. One of the things I remembered was that someone said she was just an average pilot.

I am also sure I once heard Chuck Yeager say that Jackie Cochrane was a much better pilot than Amelia.