Amelia Earhart the aircraft came close. "I did not understand it at the time," she said, "but I believe that little red airplane said something to me as it swished by." By 1919 Earhart prepared to enter Smith College but changed her mind and enrolled at Columbia University, in a course in medical studies among other programs. She quit a year later to be with her parents, who had reunited in California. In Long Beach, on December 28, 1920, Earhart and her father visited an airfield where Frank Hawks (who later gained fame as an air racer) gave her a ride that
Amelia Earhart 16 hours. The Electra also loaded 900 gallons of fuel for the shorter Honolulu to Howland leg (with only Earhart, Noonan, and Manning on board), but the airplane crashed on take off; the crash ended the first world flight attempt. Around <time datetime="1937-07-02T15:00+10:00">3 pm Lae time</time>, Earhart reported her altitude as 10000 feet but that they would reduce altitude due to thick clouds. Around <time datetime="1937-07-02T17:00+10:00">5 pm</time>, Earhart reported her altitude as 7000 feet and speed as 150 knots. Their last known position report was near the Nukumanu Islands, about into the flight. During the flight, Noonan may have been