China Clipper flight departure site when Sikorsky S-42 "Samoan Clipper" exploded over Samoa in January, 1938. "Hawaii Clipper" disappeared westbound from Guam to Manila in July, 1938. There were unsubstantiated rumors of Japanese involvement, similar to those arising from the disappearance of Amelia Earhart a year earlier. Earhart's navigator, Fred Noonan, had been navigator aboard "China Clipper" during the initial airmail flight. Boeing 314 flying boats "Honolulu Clipper" (NC18601) and "California Clipper" (NC18602) joined the surviving Martin M-130s in 1939, and "Pacific Clipper" (NC18609) and "Anzac Clipper" (NC18611) extended service to New Zealand and Australia in 1941. "Philippine Clipper" returned to Wake when it received
Fred Noonan Electra might have snapped on takeoff (the purpose of this antenna has not been identified, however radio communications seemed normal as they climbed away from Lae). One relatively new theory suggests that Noonan may have made a mistake in navigation due to the flight's crossing of the International Date Line. Many researchers including navigator and aeronautical engineer Elgen Long believe that the Electra ran out of fuel and that Earhart and Noonan ditched at sea. The "crash and sink" theory is often the most widely accepted explanation of Earhart's and Noonan's fate. In her last message received at Howland Island,