You have now cited only one source (albeit only in the edit summary)  The New York Times. Apparently, however, you are unaware of the close personal relationship between Lindbergh and the author of that paper's stories, Times' aviation writer Lauren "Deac" Lyman, which went back to 1927 when Lyman befriended a then unknown Lindbergh. Lyman was the only member of the press whom Lindbergh told about his decision to go into self exile in Europe, and he did so because he knew that Lyman would paint this actions in terms most favorable to his friend and, with Lindbergh deliberately "unavailable at sea" for more than a week, that this "spin" would initially be repeated by other papers that would pick up the NYT story from that paper's news service. This relationship and the tone of the resulting early accounts based on are addressed in detail in the cited TIME Magazine article on the issue of press coverage published on January 6th. ("Since Colonel Lindbergh had offered no public explanation of his departure, and radiograms sent to him on the American Importer were returned with the notation "Addressee not aboard," the Times' story remained the scripture on which the week's exegesis was built. It was written by bespectacled Lauren D. ("Deac") Lyman, who as the Times' aviation editor befriended obscure young Aviator Lindbergh before his flight to Paris in 1927. Throughout the week Reporter Lyman stoutly refused to reveal the source of his scoop. But Colonel Lindbergh's hatred of certain sensational newspapers, and his corresponding affection for the courteous Times, have long been well-known. ... In keeping with the Times' policy of protecting Hero Lindbergh's privacy, Reporter Lyman weakened his otherwise first-rate scoop by failing to disclose the time and place of the Lindberghs' sailing, their ship's name, their exact destination.") As Lindbergh's real intentions became known  his intention to live in exile in Europe  it then became clear that this was not just a vacation abroad but that Lindbergh had "fled" the country to protect them from danger that he felt that he and his family were being exposed to in the United States and that he would be living in Europe indefinitely.

Aside from the Times, you have again failed to provide any  citations or sources that support your claim that "the number of sources which use the neutral "left" is huge compared with the single source for "fleeing"." (You also have also again misrepresented the number of sources that I have provided which is FOUR, not one.) You have also claimed that I apparently believe that "flight" and "sailed" are the identical word to "fleeing" when I have made no such claim. Sailed only describes the mode of transportation he used (a ship), nothing more. (The word I was emphasizing with "sailed" was "furtively".) The term "flight", however, is the noun that describes the event associated the adjective "fleeing" and verb "fled".