Earhart, Amelia (1897-1939)
Twelve Photographs of events around her crash on Ford Island, 20 March 1937.

1937.

Including nine period black-and-white photographs of her plane after the crash: one 5 x 7 in.; three 4 3/4 x 3 7/8 in.; and five 2 1/2 x 3 in.; one photo of the plane with Earhart in the frame; one photograph showing Earhart after the crash listening to General Yount with a serious expression; and two photographs of Earhart on the steamship Lurline going home "after the crackup" festooned in leis; several photos stamped on the verso by O.H. [Otto Hickman] Hornung, Jr. of Honolulu; each photo mounted on black paper album pages with typed captions; sizes vary, all but one nicely preserved.

On 20 March 1937, in an attempt to complete the second leg of her flight around the world, Earhart, along with three crew members, attempted to take off from Luke Field on Ford Island in her Lockheed Electra 10E. Unfortunately, the runway was slick with rain and Earhart's attempt to correct a slight swing to the left turned into an out of control ground loop. Supported for a run of 50-60 feet on only the right wheel, the landing-gear on that side suddenly collapsed, followed rapidly by a collapse of the same gear on the left. Sliding on its belly in a shower of sparks, the plane sustained extensive damage, although the pilot and her crew emerged without injury. Plane and pilot boarded the SS Lurline headed back to Lockheed in Burbank for repairs.

Hornung Jr. clearly took some of these photographs, although the identity of the album compiler is otherwise undetermined. Several of the images viewable online concerning this incident are identical to those here. Other similar images were taken at the same time. All may share the same origin. Barton Kyle Yount (1884-1949), a decorated U.S. Army Air Forces Lieutenant General, commanded Army Air Forces Training Command and served in the first and second world wars. In 1937 he was stationed at Hickham Field, Hawaii. In the image where Yount is speaking to Earhart, he is visible only from the back, leading this cataloguer to believe that the compiler of the album must have been present or informed by someone present in order to identify him. (For more see: https://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Archives/Docu