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
Fred Noonan in "The 37s", an episode of "". The character of an aircraft pilot named Fred Noonan is portrayed by actor Eddie Firestone in "The Long Train", a 1961 episode of the television series "The Untouchables". Both a baseball stadium and an aircraft rental agency are named after Fred Noonan. A 1990 episode of "Unsolved Mysteries" featured Mark Stitham as Noonan. In addition, Rutger Hauer has portrayed Noonan in the TV movie "" (1994) starring Diane Keaton, and Christopher Eccleston portrayed Noonan in the 2009 biographical movie "Amelia" (2009). It is also possible that the character of Freddy Noonan in the