Nikumaroro structures from the abortive Arundel coconut plantation and were rescued after several days on the island. The devastated wreck of the "Norwich City" was a prominent landmark on the reef for 70 years, although by 2007, only the ship's keel, engine, and two large tanks remained. A Digital Globe satellite image taken November 15, 2016, shows one of the two tanks pushed inland by wave action, and the engine is now gone. Amelia Earhart attempted her world flight in 1937, but she and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared after the plane left Lae, New Guinea, and headed for Howland Island. Nikumaroro
Fred Noonan a navigation instructor in Miami and an airport manager in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, eventually assuming the duties of inspector for all of the company's airports. In March 1935, Noonan was the navigator on the first Pan Am Sikorsky S-42 clipper at San Francisco Bay. In April he navigated the historic round-trip China Clipper flight between San Francisco and Honolulu, piloted by Ed Musick (who was featured on the cover of "Time" magazine that year). Noonan was subsequently responsible for mapping Pan Am's clipper routes across the Pacific Ocean, participating in many flights to Midway Island, Wake Island, Guam, the Philippines, and