Accidental landing of Amelia Earhart in Derry after record breaking flight commemorated

Ballyarnet (Irish: Baile-Arnoid) is a townland just to the north of the city of Derry (Irish: Doire) in the north of Ireland. People of Derry have been remembering  a special unexpected visitor to Ballyarnet who arrived on 21st May 1932. American aviation pioneer and author Amelia Earhart made a forced landing there due to bad weather and technical problems. Amelia Earhart's arrival in Ireland made her the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Having flown from Newfoundland in Canada, she had intended to fly to Paris in her single engine Lockheed Vega 5B to emulate Charles Lindbergh's solo flight five years earlier. A surprised local farm hand asked, "Have you flown far?" Earhart replied, "From America".

Even after 89 years people of Derry still celebrate the city's accidental place in aviation history.  On the anniversary of her arrival radio operators from around the world shared her story with a broadcast from locations connected to her life. In Ireland the Derry-based Amelia Earhart Legacy Association (AELA) collaborated with the North West Group Amateur Radio Club for the special radio operators' event on Friday 21st May at the site of her landing 89 years ago. Mayor of Derry City and Strabane Brian Tierney spoke live from Gallagher's field to officials in Atchison, Kansas in the United States, the birthplace of Earhart, and the mayor of Harbour Grace in Canada, where Ms Earhart took off on the famous flight.

After her achievement Amelia Earhart received the United States Distinguished Flying Cross. She was a member of the National Woman's Party and an early supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment. Amelia Earhart was also instrumental in the formation of The Ninety-Nines, an organization for female pilots. Sadly, in 1937 while flying a Lockheed Model 10-E Electra, whilst attempting to become the first female to complete a circumnavigational flight of the globe Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared over the central Pacific Ocean near Howland Island. Following the disappearance on July 2, 1937, an extensive search was undertaken, no physical evidence of Amelia Earhart, Fred Noonan or the Electra 10E was found. Amelia Earhart was declared dead January 5, 1939.