Nai'a co-owner and TIGHAR friend Bob Barrel writes:
"This comment popped up on the NAI’A YouTube channel. It may be nothing but I thought you should at least know about it….
'Well, her trailing antenna, VITAL for HF communications broke off during the PNG departure. I know, as I spoke to Sid Marshall as a teenager, who was a veteran pilot operating in PNG at the time. Sid also helps Earhart and Noonan re-fuel. One thing that always puzzles me is WHY Fred Noonan went along with it. I thought they would have turned around and landed to fix it, but the axel weight was too high for the landing gear.'
The Youtube comment is interesting. He has several things wrong. It wasn’t the trailing wire antenna that broke off. The trailing wire was not re-installed after the Hawai'i accident. It was the belly wire antenna that was lost on takeoff at Lae. We’re not sure about its function but it was probably being used as the “sense” antenna” for the Bendix radio direction finder. Due to the aircraft’s heavy weight, the aft mast supporting the antenna probably struck the ground while Earhart was turning around to take off at the far end of the field. The broken mast was then pulled along by the antenna wire during the takeoff run. At some point, the token mast snagged on the ground and pulled the wire free. With a gross weight of 15,000 pounds, none of this would be felt in the cockpit so Earhart and Noonan were unaware they had lost the antenna.
The most interesting thing about this account is that he attributes it to Sid Marshall. Sid was, indeed, a veteran pilot operating in New Guinea and he was present for Earhart’s departure. It was Sid Marshall who shot the famous 16mm home movie film of Earhart’s takeoff and it includes a puff of dust that may be the broken mast snagging on the ground. The loss of the antenna was apparently common knowledge on the airport. I first head the story from an American serviceman who was stationed in Lae during WWII. We subsequently confirmed the event though forensic imaging of the film.
This is the first time I’ve heard that Sid Marshall knew about it. What’s curious is that there is no mention of the incident in Guinea Airways manager Eric Chater’s detailed letter describing Earhart’s time in Lae nor is it mentioned in Aviation District Superintendent James Collopy’s letter describing the takeoff.