The United States Coast Guard vessel At Tasca, 250 feet bow to stern, is anchored off the

Lee side of Howland Island, just above the equator in the Pacific Ocean.

2.45 a.m. this morning we received our first radio contact from Amelia Earhart's

Lockheed Electra, which we understand it taken off from Lay New Guinea at noon yesterday.

Two hours ago, at 645 AM, the plane radioed a position 100 miles out.

Just an hour ago, she reported a location over the island but not sighting land,

and she was running low on fuel.

Now, it's 843 a.m. The transmission reported being on line 157 to 377

running north and south. But there's no sign of the plane, nothing.

And we wait, watching the skies, checking the radio.

The shore party has come aboard now, at an hour and 17 minutes after our last signal we set to see.

The search for Emile Earhart begins. Hello, this is Don Wildman, and you're listening to American History, hit.

Very glad to have you.

Eight decades on, we are still fascinated,

entranced even by a remarkable,

charismatic woman who accomplished in her day

a list of aviation firsts, but is most famous for her final

daring exploit that came up tragically short. A single plane circumnavigation of the globe

along the equatorial zone.

This pioneering flyer, whose life is now legend was extraordinary in every regard.

Her achievements in aviation put her at the cutting edge of an emerging transportation

that would transform civilization, all the while deliberately placing herself

...