Today, 89 years ago, Amelia Earhart disappeared over the Pacific Ocean in her attempt to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate the world.

The 39-year-old Earhart, who was an American aviator and aviation pioneer, was legally declared dead on 5 January 1939 after she and her navigator Fred Noonan disappeared on 2 July 1937 during a flight.

Earhart, a passionate advocate for women’s equality in a male-dominated field who was also known as a trailblazer and prolific writer, leaving behind a legacy as a pioneering aviator who set numerous flying records. The rules she lived by and the challenges she accepted grasp the imagination and curiosity for generations to come.

From childhood days in Kansas, Earhart was described as a tomboy who preferred to wear bloomers and not dresses, as the bloomers provided more freedom for movement. Throughout her childhood she kept a scrapbook of newspaper clippings about successful women in male-dominated careers.

At the age of 23 – in 1920 – she experienced her first flight as a passenger, which changed her life as she knew there and then she had to fly.

After that she commenced flying lessons and nearly two years later set her first world record for female pilots. On 16 May 1923, Earhart became the 16th woman in the United States to be issued a pilot’s licence.

Record-breaking achievements

Amongst her most famous records was to be the first woman to fly solo across the North American continent and back (1928), the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean (1932), and the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to California (1935). In total, she had more than 16 records to her name, which include overall aviation records and not women-only records.

Early in 1936, Earhart started planning to fly around the world; if she succeeded, she would become the first woman to do so. After several interruptions and challenges, Earhart and Noonan departed Miami on 1 June 1937, and after numerous stops in South America, Africa, the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, arrived in New Guinea on 29 June.

At this stage, about 35 000 kilometres of the journey had been completed. The remaining 11 000 kilometres would be over the Pacific Ocean.

They took off from New Guinea on the morning of 2 July with their next destination Howland Island, a small island 4 113 kilometres away. Despite radio connections and a US coast guard vessel to offer communication and navigation, they were never seen again.

The search and her enduring legacy

Unprecedented searches followed their disappearance, but no physical evidence of Earhart, Noonan or the Lockheed Electra 10E – the twin-engine monoplane fitted with extra fuel tanks and other modifications – was found.

Not only did tribute flights follow Earhart’s disappearance, but several buildings, structures and even a ship were named after her. Writers, songwriters and film directors also did their part in immortalising her legacy.

In 2021 Lego produced a limited run of its Amelia Earhart Tribute 1932 Lockheed Vega 5B, Lego Model Number 40450; and in 2018 Earhart was one of several inspiring women in a line of Barbie dolls.

Some of the latest films include Amelia, released in 2009, in which Earhart was portrayed by Hilary Swank, and in the same year in the fantasy comedy film Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, she was played by Amy Adams.

Sources: wikipedia.org; airandspace.si.edu; brittanica.com