May 21, 1937 Amelia Earhart Leaves Oakland On May 21, 1937, Amelia Earhart departed from Oakland with a navigator, Fred Noonan, to continue their flight around the world. They had completed over two-thirds of the distance when her plane disappeared without a trace in the central Pacific Ocean. In this photo, Ms. Earhart sits atop her airplane shortly after landing in Oakland on January 12, 1935. Only 18 hours 16 minutes after departing Honolulu, she became the first woman to fly solo from Hawaii to the United States mainland. Photo courtesy of Oakland Public Library.