During her entire flying career she had more than 1,000 hours in the air (Shore 13). She set many different records, such as setting a new altitude record of 14,000 feet (Shore 13). Amelia was the first woman to do many things, including flying across the Atlantic as a passenger and flying alone across the United States from New York City to Los Angeles and back (Shore 13-14). One of Amelia’s biggest accomplishments was when she flew solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set out on the journey across the Atlantic Ocean on May 20, 1932 (Shore 13). The Atlantic was a dangerous place to fly because of its unpredictable weather patterns (Shore 13). Although the weather was very dangerous, it was not the only difficulty that Amelia faced while flying over the Atlantic. One of the first problems that Amelia faced was when the altimeter failed (Shore 14). After the altimeter broke, Earhart flew into a thunderstorm with heavy rain and strong winds. The thunderstorm caused several things inside the plane to freeze and the plane itself was getting too cold to fly. Amelia knew that she would have to get the plane to warmer air. At one point she flew so low that she could see the waves breaking on the surface of the ocean (Shore 15). Another major problem that Amelia faced was when she saw flames coming from the plane. She had to find somewhere to land because she did not know how long the plane would last. The closest spot …show more content…
The official report by the U.S. government reads that Earhart and Noonan ran out of fuel, crashed into the water, and sank (“What Happened to Amelia Earhart?”). One of the most common hypotheses made about Earhart and Noonan’s death is that they landed on Nikumaroro (“What Happened to Amelia Earhart?”). For a while this island was left uninvestigated because at the time it was “uninhabited” (“What Happened to Amelia Earhart?”). Evidence later found by the TIGHAR, or International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, contradicts this idea with The Earhart Project (“What Happened to Amelia Earhart?”). TIGHAR found improvised tools, remnants of shoes, traces of a campfire, and aircraft wreckage that looked much like Earhart’s plane (“What Happened to Amelia Earhart?”). They also discovered that a British colonial officer found parts of a castaway and sent them to Fiji for examination and they were “misplaced” (“What Happened to Amelia Earhart?”). Lastly, on its 2010 expedition, TIGHAR found pieces of a pocketknife and cosmetic jar, shells that had been sliced open, bits of makeup, and, even more astounding, bone fragments that appeared to be human (“What Happened to Amelia Earhart?”). The evidence found provided hope and could lead to closure for Amelia and Noonan’s