William P. Benedict

Lieutenant Colonel William P. Benedict was an American pilot from California. He is best known for having flown together with Lt. Col. Joseph O. Fletcher a U.S. Air Force C-47 modified to have skis and wheels to the North Pole, where they became the first humans to land a plane on May 3, 1952 and (together with scientist Albert P. Crary) the first persons to set foot on the exact geographical North Pole.

Benedict later worker as a firefighting pilot in California. He was killed while dropping fire retardant in the Ukiah area of California on August 31, 1974.

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Literature

Compton, Charles B.: Born to Fly: Some Life Sketches of Lieutenant Colonel William P. Benedict, Polar Times, 1997

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External links