Lae Airfield crane above the aircraft. The Lae airport is probably best remembered for being the point of departure in July 1937 for Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan on their flight to Howland Island. Earhart's plane disappeared near Howland Island some 19 hours after departing Lae airport. Lae Airfield Lae Airfield is a former World War II airfield and later, civilian airport located at Lae, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea. The airport was closed in the 1980s, in favour of Lae Nadzab Airport, which was able to accommodate larger jet aircraft. The airport was known as Lae Drome or Lae Aerodrome
Tommy Noonan half-brother of actor John Ireland. Noonan was the son of Michael James Noonan and Grace Ferguson. His father was a vaudeville comedian and a native of Galway County, Ireland. His mother, a piano teacher, was from Glasgow, Scotland. He attended New York University. In 1934, Noonan and Ireland made their stage debuts with a New York-based experimental theater. They later appeared together in three films, including "I Shot Jesse James" (1949). Noonan had a repertory company of his own prior to World War II. On Broadway, Noonan appeared in "How to Make a Man" (1960) and "Men to the Sea"