@ciscoserrano
My introverted friend Emily was invited to our Halloween party. She dressed up as Amelia Earhart, sent us all a photo and said she’s on her way, and then never showed up. Truly iconic.
@LASAGNA_LARRY
If you ever feel forgotten, just remember there was another person in the plane when Amelia Earhart went missing (Fred Noonan).
@brianmulholland2467
I have seen SO MANY Earhart documentaries over the years. I have never seen one that painted so clear a picture of what went wrong. Fantastic job.
@triangulum8869
Its weird how her disappearance is portrayed as such a huge mystery today when it’s pretty clear that finding a single plane and 2 people in the middle of the Pacific without even a solid idea of where they mightve crashed is not exactly an easy task
@rex8255
IMHO, the larger factor in this: "Get there itis", a mental issue that has killed many pilots, as evidenced by: A. Leaving when conditions were less than ideal. B. Sending VITAL communications to ships about radios frequencies & etc. and not ensuring said communications were received, understood, AND that they made sense. C. Not turning back when she had a chance, and things were already going wrong. In other words, she was SO focused on getting there, she just kept blowing of potentially huge issues.
@davidwell686
I sailed in the US Navy as a Radioman/IT for 25 years and then 5 years on commercial ships. An old hand on my first commercial ship told me "You get careless out here, danger will find you". He was correct about sailing and life in general.
@HoopsMR22
This was the absolute best documentary on Amelia Earhart's final flight that I've ever seen. Despite seeing dozens of depictions of the flight over the years, none of the radio mistakes/malfunctions were ever explained. Most of the documentaries wanted to focus on the conspiracy theories instead of the science. The science is infinitely more interesting. Thank you for this!
@Ragazzo-Carino
If I recollect correctly, the guy who installed the direction finder was frustrated with how little time Earhart spent with him learning how to use it, and that she seemed disinterested or distracted during what little time she spent with him. Manning indicated that he had suspicions what happened, but never revealed what they were. He did seem spooked by the crash they had on the first attempt. Earhart’s advisor, Paul Mantz, was also on that crash flight, and he seemed concerned as to how Earhart flew the plane when it led to the crash. The lack of her confirming receipt of radio messages during until the last stages of the flight I think is indicative that she didn’t receive those messages, probably due to the aerial being damaged taking off from Lae…film at the time does seem to show something happening under the belly of the Electra. Fred Noonan often gets forgotten, but was possibly the best navigator of his time in the air…he plotted the early Pacific routes for the Pan Am Clippers of the day. His background was shipping, and with his experience he must have known that Dead Reckoning errors must be greater with air navigation because the aircraft is traversed faster than a ship, so by the time the calculations were completed the aircraft would have covered quite a distance and potentially with changes in wind direction and speed. Apparently, he used Drift measurements to obtain wind speed. This required dropping flares or dye balls into the sea and measuring how far they moved off from the ideal position predicted by the Drift Meter. Noonan must have known that he’d struggle to find Howland, but trusted that Earhart could get them the rest of the way using direction finding equipment. Earhart believed in psychism, fortune telling and destiny. She seemed to believe that positivity would get her through. She’d had several scrapes but got through them, and I think that this reinforced her belief in her abilities or that a guardian angel was watching over her. I grew up seeing her as a bit of a historical hero, but having read all that I could find about her, she was an amateur whose luck ran out.
@TheLittleChicken
The sheer amount of veritasium content released recently is a true blessing
@dmitryostrovsky5763
I'm 77 years old and this video is by far the absolute best presentation and explanation on Earhart's disastrous last flight. You did an excellent job of breaking down the technical problems and explaining it to a general audience. Would love to see the bonus Patreon vid, but I am disabled, below poverty line. I do not understand why almost 99% of other media does cheap tabloid versions of Earhart's final flight. Thanks again for such a superb investigation and researched video. Dima
@adamdecoder1
I have a bone to pick with public education. They way Amelia's story was told essentially boiled down to: "she disappeared mysteriously over the Pacific ocean and nobody know what happened". The full story is so much more interesting.
@Quetaly
Everyone talking about Amelia, and I am over here impressed by Noonan navigation system... I get lost with gps and he traveled using the stars
@chasejohnson344
I'm amazed at how ill-prepared the expedition to cross the Pacific was. Amelia Earhart certainly had ambition and bravery, but it seems she was seriously lacking in her understanding of risk and how to mitigate that risk with redundancies. Instead of resolving uncertainties and potential issues before takeoff, she just hoped for the best.
@teabag_exe
This story is a chilling reminder of how small errors can cascade into tragedy, especially in high-stakes situations. It makes you think about all the "what ifs" and how important clear communication and shared responsibility are. RIP Amelia Earhart.
@ben-z
"When attempting any challenging endeavor, you need someone with the right knowledge who will also take responsibility for getting things right." This is so true. Too many projects fail due to unknowledgeable people in charge or knowledgeable people not taking enough responsibilities.
@ajay_jay
I’m really into female aviation, and the truth is Earhart’s flying abilities were often a bit exaggerated due to her good relations with the press, whereas other female pilots were often underrepresented in the media. My personal favorite aviator is Louise Thaden, she was remarkable for her time both in aviation and for various other achievements. She was the winner of the 1929 Women’s Air Derby. Amelia’s disappearance led to other female pilots achievements in that era being overshadowed which is why so many female pilots were underestimated and downright disrespected in the “Golden Age” of aviation. Highly recommend learning more about Louise Thaden if you were ever intrigued by Amelia Earhart!!
@tabdougherty8549
The hands on radio demonstration really helped me understand what all the documentaries on this subject have always described. Thank you!
@cameraman502
I knew I would be sad, but I didn't think I would get this angry at the lack of preparation on Earhart's part. I always figured it was just adventurism hitting the limit of the technology. But I can't understand not having complete understanding of vital equipment and complete synchrony with the people you relied on for such a bold journey.
@singlesideman
This is absolutely maddening. It's error after error, messages not being received nor acknowledged, fundamental misunderstanding of radio frequencies, and on and on. So incredibly frustrating.
@veritasium