Amelia Earhart died in the Bermuda Triangle, Right? ..... Nope

 Where did I learn that Amelia Earhart died in the Bermuda Triangle? I really think I learned it in school. Just to check that I wasn't crazy, I asked my husband where she died and immediately he proclaimed, "The Bermuda Triangle!" The myth of Amelia Earhart's death has long been an exciting national mystery. So why  not mesh two mysteries together: a female stunt pilot's death and the graveyard of the Bermuda Triangle. Two weekends ago, PBS played a documentary on Amelia Earhart's last flight and it didn't end with her crashing into the Bermuda Triangle. No where near it. Where, then? On the other side of the world.

I started watching it and thought really how long can this show last she takes off from California and ends up in the drink just off the Florida coast. Imagine my surprise when she made it south of the Bermuda Triangle. I actually started getting antsy and saying in my head "Wait! What is happening!?" And oh, surprise! She had a navigator with her, she wasn't alone in the plane. 

Her last flight plan was to fly around the world hitting every continent on the equatorial line.  A 29,000 mile flight CA to CA. 

For a detailed description of every stop on her flight around the world go here. http://www.tripline.net/trip/Amelia_Earhart's_Circumnavigation_Attempt-6410741502631003B225FC83C9742523

Amelia and Fred Noonan (her navigator) almost made it home. They were on their third to last leg trying to land on Howland Island. Hawaii and back to the mainland were the last legs of the journey. This is the spot in the middle of the Pacific they were intended to reach. THIS!!

How close did they get to Howland Island? Pretty stinking close. As in after the last radio contact with the Coast Guard cutter Itasca, they were within 15 minutes of flight time to reach the island. It was cloudy and Amelia had no visibility to spot the island. Amelia also made the decision to leave behind at the beginning of the trip her 250ft radio wire. The Itasca could hear her, but she couldn't hear them. Essentially after flying for 20 hours, she was running out of gas, flying under 1,000 ft and had little visibility. The largest search ever launched in 1937 couldn't find them. It is an immense amount of ocean to search for a plane that also had no life raft. A fateful decision made before take off in California to save space and weight.