Radio Log of the Last Communications of Amelia Earhart
This is a radio log from the USCGC Itasca, a U.S. Coast Guard cutter tasked with supporting Amelia Earhart’s 1937 flight around the world. Leo G. Bellarts (listed as L.G. Bellarts in the log) was on post starting at 7 p.m. on July 1, 1937. In the log, communications with Earhart’s plane are identified by the call sign KHAQQ.
At various points, the Earhart crew reported trouble communicating through the radio, that they were flying low at 1000 feet, and that they were 200 miles away from Howland Island. Communication attempts continued throughout the evening and to the morning of July 2, 1937. At approximately 8:43 a.m., the last communication from KHAQQ was received, “we are on the line 157 337 wl rept msg we wl rept…”
Amelia Earhart set off for her attempt to fly around the world on June 1, 1937, from Miami, FL. After communication was lost with Earhart’s airplane, the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard conducted the largest rescue search over air and sea at that time.
The radio log is part of the National Archives donated collections, from the Leo G. Bellarts Papers, 1937–1971 (BLRTS). Although the National Archives is the repository of permanent records created by the federal government, records from outside these sources are occasionally accepted if the material closely relates to records already in the custody of the National Archives. Some non-governmental records collections include: records from the American National Red Cross, naturalization records from courts, and papers of Polar explorers such as Robert Peary.