Prompt #374 Amelia Earhart

By Liz On July 2, 2012 · Leave a Comment · In Writing Prompt

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Today is the anniversary of the disappearance of Amelia Earhart. I thought I’d break from my usual quote sources to bring you a prompt commemorating her adventure.

During Earhart and Noonan’s approach to Howland Island the Itasca received strong and clear voice transmissions from Earhart identifying as KHAQQ but she apparently was unable to hear voice transmissions from the ship. At 7:42 am Earhart radioed “We must be on you, but cannot see you—but gas is running low. Have been unable to reach you by radio. We are flying at 1,000 feet.” Her 7:58 am transmission said she couldn’t hear the Itasca and asked them to send voice signals so she could try to take a radio bearing (this transmission was reported by the Itasca as the loudest possible signal, indicating Earhart and Noonan were in the immediate area). They couldn’t send voice at the frequency she asked for, so Morse code signals were sent instead. Earhart acknowledged receiving these but said she was unable to determine their direction.

In her last known transmission at 8:43 am Earhart broadcast “We are on the line 157 337. We will repeat this message. We will repeat this on 6210 kilocycles. Wait.” However, a few moments later she was back on the same frequency (3105 kHz) with a transmission which was logged as a “questionable”: “We are running on line north and south.” Earhart’s transmissions seemed to indicate she and Noonan believed they had reached Howland’s charted position, which was incorrect by about five nautical miles (10 km). -Wikipedia article on Amelia Earhart

Writing Prompt: Write a story, scene, or poem about an adventurer that disappears under mysterious circumstances.

Journaling Prompt: If you were going to disappear, how would it happen?

Art Prompt: Amelia Earhart

Photo Credit: WikiMediaCommons

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