Timeline of the second round-the-world attempt

Around the world, heading eastward.

Ric Gillespie, 3 March 2000 Forum.

Names and political affiliations of destinations shown as of 1937. Distances in statute miles.

20 May to 2 July, 1937

Leg #	From	To	Date	Statute miles	Remarks
1	Oakland, California	Burbank, California	20 May	325	From Oakland to Miami AE and Fred were accompanied by AE's husband, George Palmer Putnam, and her mechanic R.D. "Bo" McKneeley.
2	Burbank, California	Tucson, Arizona	21 May	450	Engine fire after refueling; forced to stay overnight for repairs.
3	Tucson, Arizona	New Orleans, Louisiana	22 May	1250
4	New Orleans, Louisiana	Miami, Florida	23 May	675
			24 May		Repairs following AE's aborted first world flight attempt in March had been completed on May 19 and the trip from Oakland to Miami was a shakedown trip. It was not until they arrived in Miami that the announcement was made that the second world flight attempt had actually begun. In Miami, Pan American Airways mechanics made necessary adjustments to the Sperry autopilot and the radios. Good documentation about the modifications has yet to come to light. Starboard navigation window skinned over.
			25 May
			26 May
			27 May
			28 May
			29 May
			30 May		Second round-the-world attempt announced. A Professor Thedore McCown, Univ. of California, in 1960, had a letter from Dr. Horace L. Cartee, DDS from Miami, Fla, that reports that the day before AE left on the flight he removed an "upper right third molar" from AE hoping to cure some severe headaches she was having.
5	Miami, Florida	San Juan, Puerto Rico	1 June	1033
6	San Juan, Puerto Rico	Caripito, Venezuela	2 June	750
7	Caripito, Venezuela	Paramaribo, Dutch Guiana	3 June	667
8	Paramaribo, Dutch Guiana	Fortaleza, Brazil	4 June	1200
			5 June		One day layover; crew rest.
9	Fortaleza, Brazil	Natal, Brazil	6 June	268
10	Natal, Brazil	Saint-Louis, French Senegal	7 June	1961	Unscheduled--"navigational difficulty."
11	Saint-Louis, French Senegal	Dakar, French Senegal	8 June	103
			9 June		One day layover for maintenance.
12	Dakar, French Senegal	Gao, French West Africa	10 June	1130
13	Gao, French West Africa	Fort-Lamy, French Equatorial Africa	11 June	989
14	Fort-Lamy, French Equatorial Africa	El Fasher, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan	12 June	700
15	El Fasher, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan	Khartoum, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan	13 June	501	Refueled in Khartoum.
16	Khartoum, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan	Massawa, Italian Eritrea	13 June	450
17	Massawa, Italian Eritrea	Assab, Italian Eritrea	14 June	300	Confusion about AE's intentions resulted in an erroneous press report that she was overdue at Karachi. It was thought that she would fly non-stop from Massawa to Karachi, but she landed at Assab and stayed overnight instead.
18	Assab, Italian Eritrea	Karachi, India	15 June	1600
			16 June		One day layover for maintenance.
19	Karachi, India	Calcutta, India	17 June	1390	At this point in the flight AE anticipated that she would reach Lae on June 23 or 24, and be home by June 28.
20	Calcutta, India	Akyab, Burma	18 June	335
21	Akyab, Burma	Rangoon, Burma	19 June	306	For the first time in the flight, weather became a serious problem. Originally intending only to refuel at Akyab on 18 June, heavy rain forced them to abort their attempt to continue. Another attempt to reach Bangkok the next day (19 June) was cut short by severe weather and a landing was made at Rangoon.
22	Rangoon, Burma	Bangkok, Siam	20 June	300	Refueled in Bankok.
23	Bangkok, Siam	Singapore, British Crown Colony	20 June	904
24	Singapore, British Crown Colony	Bandoeng, Java, Dutch East Indies	21 June	560
			22 June		Maintenance.
			23 June		Maintenance.
25	Bandoeng, Java, Dutch East Indies	Soerabaja, Java, Dutch East Indies	24 June	355	Instrument malfunctions were addressed by mechanics of KLM East Indies Airlines. In a telephone conversation with her husband, AE said she still hoped to be home by July 4th.
26	Soerabaja, Java, Dutch East Indies	Bandoeng, Java, Dutch East Indies	25 June	355	Continued instrument difficulties forced a return to Bandoeng for additional repairs (26 June).
			26 June		Instrument repairs.
27	Bandoeng, Java, Dutch East Indies	Koepang, Timor, Dutch East Indies	27 June	1165
28	Koepang, Timor, Dutch East Indies	Port Darwin, Australia	28 June	500	Receiver fuse replaced in Darwin.
29	Port Darwin, Australia	Lae, Territory of New Guinea	29 June	1207	Communicated with Darwin but not Lae (telegraphed wrong frequency).
			30 June		Delayed in Lae for weather reports, time check, "personnel difficulties."
			1 July		Failed direction finding test in Lae. Weather reports, time check.
30	Lae, Territory of New Guinea	Howland Island, United States Territory	2 July	2556	This, the longest and most difficult leg of the flight. Arrival in Oakland by the 4th of July was now out of the question and Putnam would do well to get Amelia's planned book World Flight (ultimately to be titled Last Flight) published in time for the Christmas market. Line difficulties delayed Noonan's receipt of vital time checks needed to set his chronometer, and contrary winds prevented the heavily laden takeoff until the morning of July 2. A position report received at Lae later that day indicated that the flight was on course and on schedule. At Howland Island, the next morning, radio messages from the approaching flight placed it within roughly 100 miles, however, AE's attempts to use radio direction finding to locate the tiny island were unsuccessful. At noon the flight was declared overdue and presumed down.
(31)	Howland Island, United States Territory	Honolulu, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii		1900
(32)	Honolulu, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii	Oakland, California		2410

• Total miles planned: 28,595.
• Total miles flown (Oakland to vicinity Howland Island): 24,285.

Related articles

• Radio chronology
• Earlier version of the timeline.