There have been many thoughts as to what happened to Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan on July 2, 1937. One theorist describes their idea of what happened to the aviators:

…. As they moved onward, they realized something wasn’t right. With no island spotted, had they missed their target? Fearing they lost their way and drifted off course overnight… Amelia starts radioing the USCGC Itasca stationed off Howland Island for help but receives no reply…. She flew the lop 157-337 north and south while requesting help from the Itasca. But as time went on, it becomes clear they aren’t getting through…. They fly on, fuel running extremely low and no land in sight. Amelia continues to transmit their line of position until an abrupt end, when she simply said “Wait.” Our theory is that the aviators made landfall at Gardner Island shortly after Amelia’s last word…. One of them spotted land prompting her to say “Wait” as she changed course to verify. Seeing a large lagoon and a shipwreck on the beach as they approached the island…. They circled… looking for a place to land. At this time, Fred’s experience with the seaplane route industry gained him insight on acceptable landing zones. Seeing no safe place to land on the exterior beaches, he looked inward [and opted] to ditch in the shallow water of the lagoon toward a sandbank protruding outward from a sheltered cove area…. We believe this is what she did, though the outcome wasn’t quite as planned. Coming in too steep and hitting the water hard enough to sever part of the wing [and] damaging the plane beyond any useful means and coming to rest partially submerged.