Asking for help
By July 1937, technical issues on the plane put Amelia’s mission at stake. On July 2, Earhart and Noonan took off from Lae Airfield in Papua New Guinea. They were headed towards Howland Island. But something went wrong.
Source: OMG Check It Out
They were able to send a transmission from the plane, picked up by the USCGC Itasca. They said the plane was having trouble. While the men from the USCGC Itasca can hear Earhart clearly, she could not hear them.
Running low on gas
Later, Earhart sent a transmission saying that her plane was low on gas and she estimated that she only has about 30 minutes left before it runs out. The USCGC Itasca tried to send a Morse code transmission but to no avail.
Source: OMG Check It Out
The crew of the USCGC Itasca did everything they could. They used their oil-fired boilers to send smoke signals in the sky. The dark clouds might have covered the ocean surface, making it impossible for Earhart or Noonan to see the smoke from their ship.