Fred Noonan

• Full name: Frederick Joseph Noonan.
• Born April 4, 1893; lost July 2, 1937; declared dead June 20, 1938.

First round-the-world attempt

• Manning and Noonan's navigation to Hawaii.
• Mantz was scheduled to leave the plane in Honolulu; Noonan at Howland Island, and Manning in Darwin, Australia.

Was Noonan a drunkard?

• Claim first made in the 1960s?
• Heavy drinking a norm for pilots in the 1930s.
• The claim that "personnel unfitness", a phrase from a telegram sent from Earhart to Putnam on June 29th was a pre-arranged code between them has not been substantiated. It may have been a typo for "personal," meaning that Earhart herself was feeling unwell; it may have been a reference to both Earhart and Noonan (exhaustion or some other malady); or, of course, it may refer to Noonan alone. The possibility that it might refer to drinking or a hangover cannot, of course, be eliminated by recognizing that there are other possible interpretations.

Links

• Research paper on Noonan.
• Fred Noonan, Sea Captain.
• The Brines Letter--mentions Noonan's drinking.
• Wikipedia article.
• Letters to Helen Day during the final flight:
  • Fortaleza
  • Karachi
  • Bandoeng
  • Koepang