Evening star., 1937-03-21


ut Norfolk, Va, in September, 1880,
,ohen her plane upset. Her project
ed 27,000-mHe round -the-Dorld
flight in "sS0,O00 flying laboratory"
started auSpictously Thursday,
10hen she set a record OF IS hours
5112 minutes on the California;
HaUdii leg, beating the best Clipper
time by 1 hour 612 minutes. Pur-
pose OF her trip Das to test the
human equation in long flights.
BY the Associated Press.
HONOLULU, March 2O.-Amelis
Earhart cracked up her Laboratory
plane and her world flight hopes to.
day in split-second brush with
death. Her quick thinking saved the
lives Of herself and two male com.
panions.
Rolling down the Wheeler Field run.
way at so miles an hour, bound fol
tiny Rowland Island, the $4,000 plane
began sWaying crazily as nearly three
tons of gasoline Sloshed about in the
partly-fllled fuel tanks.
Under the strain the right tire burst
and the plane jumped out of control
"A tire blew out No one was
hurt .. Only our spirits are bruised
. cut the switches"
That was it in Miss Earhart's own
words.
Plane Badly Damaged.
The left undercarriage buckled and
the left wing slashed into the ground
The ship then spun to the right
crashed down on its right wing. and
the right motor snapped off the right
wheel.
single squirt of flame came from
the twisted derelict-but only one
for audacious Amelia had snapped of
the vital ignition switches.
White-faced but calm in her sixth
narrow escape in her spectacular avia-
ton career, she popped her head out
of the cockpit and shouted to the
still paralyzed onlookers:
Something must have gone wrong!"
Her navigators, Capt. Harry Man.
ming and Fred J. Noonan, crawled
out and surveyed the broken ship.
Her Voice TrembIes.
There was a tremor in her voice,
but she showed no outward effects of
the ordeal save her paleness and the
loss of a paper lei which hung about
her neck as she started down the
runway.
A few hours later Miss Earhart,
Manning, Noonan and Mantz sailed
for Los Angeles on the steamer Malolo,
determined to have their plane re-
paired at its Southern California
factory preparatory to resuming the
projected 27,000-mile world fight.
Although Miss Earhart gave no out
ward sign of agitation as she emerged
from the sixth escape of her aviation
career. she seemed bedraggled and
tired as she hurried up the gang
plank to sail
She wore several leis, somewhat
the worse for rain, and still was at.
tired in the brown slacks and leather
Jacket she wore when she started hel
world flight from Oakland last Wed.
nesday.
Her always touseled hair seemed
more aWry than usual. Accom-.
panied by Mantz, she rushed up the
gangplank without speaking to in.
tervieWers.
"I1l Be Back"
Miss Earhart's chin went up, how.
ever, as the liner moved out to the
strains of the inevitable Aloha Oe.
I'll be back" she said.
L hope this is only postpone.
ment. I talked with Mr.. Putnam
George Palmer Putnam, her hus.
band, in Oakland) and he was happ,
to hear our voices. He said as Ions
as we were safe, nothing elst
mattered"
Before sailing Miss Earhart con.
ferred with postal officials regarding
several thousand special STAMP
cachets she was to have carried
around the world. They were held fol
further instructions.
The Coast Guard and the Navy re.
called three ships which had beer
standing by along the route to How.
land Island.
An examination of the planes
tracks showed it had passed over 9
small patch of grass which did moi
protrude above the concrete runway
but which was wet
For $50 yards the tracks showed
how the plane sWerved to the left unit
Miss Earhart "gunned" the left motor
One of the first Army officers tx
reach the scene said Amelia remarked
disconsolately:
IT'S total wreck. 1 hit a we
spot
Says Blowout Caused Crash.
Brig. Gen. Barton K. Yount of tn,
Army Air Force asserted, however, th'
field, with concrete runways, was il
good condition. He said the blowou
was the cause of the crash
Other aviation experts expressed thu
belief the heavy load of gasolin.
washing in the tanks set the plane tt
swaying. The tanks have a capacity
of 1,l5l gallons, but contained only
between 300 and 900
When the plane started swinging,
Miss Earhart told Gen. Yount, :"
couldn't get it out (of the swing)."
Il never saw any one with coolel
nerve" said Gen. Yount.
The general added that Miss Ear
harts tires had been CAREFUL,