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Eye-witness account of crash of AMELIA EARHART'S airplane at Luke Field,
T.H., Saturday, March 20, 1937.
While stationed about midwway
of the runway and about thirty yards
off the edge, I watched Miss Earhart's Electra, NR16020, attempt to tak
off. I noticed that when she swung around at the end of the runway to takeoff she
was slightly to the right of the runway center line. With the ship
in this position I was on her right. About three or four minutes later she
gave both engines the throttle and started to take-off. About one-third of
the way down the runway I noticed the right wing begin to sag and the ship
veer slightly to the right. Then, just as suddenly as the ship veered to
the right, it started back to the left. After it travelled about fifty
yards with the right wing very low, I heard a report similar to a tire blowout,
and a loud screeching as though it were tires. The ship continued on
around to the left in a ground loop with a shower of sparks coming out from
underneath its belly,and came to rest headed almost in the same direction
from whence it came.
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