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
Schouten Islands (Papua New Guinea) Schouten Islands (Papua New Guinea) The Schouten Islands are a group of six small volcanic islands in the province of East Sepik in Papua New Guinea, north of the island of New Guinea. The group is also called "Eastern Schouten Islands" or "Le Maire Islands" to separate it from unrelated Schouten Islands in Indonesia. The combined land area is approximately . The Schouten Islands includes the following islands: The first recorded sighting by Europeans of the Eastern Schouten Islands was by the Spanish navigator Iñigo Órtiz de Retes on 21 July 1545 when on board of the carrack "San Juan"