Earhart — First Woman Across the Atlantic

On June 18, 1928, Amelia Earhart entered aviation history when she became the first woman to cross the Atlantic by air. The flight began in Newfoundland and ended at Burry Port, Wales, after 24 hours and 49 minutes in the air. Earhart made the journey aboard a Fokker F.VIIb/3m trimotor aircraft, a sturdy Dutch-designed plane well suited to long-distance flying in the pioneering age of aviation. Although she did not pilot the aircraft herself, her presence on the flight immediately made her an international celebrity and placed her at the forefront of the growing public fascination with flight.

The men at the controls were pilot Wilmer Stultz and co-pilot and mechanic Louis “Slim” Gordon, who handled the demanding work of navigating and managing the aircraft across the Atlantic. Earhart later remarked with characteristic modesty that she had been little more than “baggage, like a sack of potatoes,” but the flight had immense symbolic importance. It marked the first time a woman had crossed the Atlantic by airplane and helped open the way for Earhart’s later achievements, including her solo Atlantic flight in 1932.

The 1928 crossing transformed her from a little-known aviator into one of the most recognized figures of the early aviation era.