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A Countryman Tries to Unravel the Unsolved Mystery of Charles Nungesser's Last Flight


Searching for the White Bird

French aviator Charles Nungesser was Charles Lindbergh's great rival in the race to fly nonstop across the Atlantic.

Mr. Nungesser, an adventurer and World War I ace, was Mr. Lindbergh's great rival in the race to fly nonstop across the Atlantic in one direction or the other. He had set off with a navigator from Paris for New York just two weeks before Mr. Lindbergh's flight. But his biplane—called L'Oiseau Blanc, or White Bird—never arrived in New York, and for decades it was assumed that it had crashed in an Atlantic storm.

Eighty-four years later, Bernard Decré, a French aviation enthusiast, is on his own quest—to rewrite history. He has come to a different conclusion: The Oiseau Blanc probably flew over Newfoundland, before crash-landing off the coast of Canada.

Last year, Mr. Decré discovered a 1927 U.S. Coast Guard telegram that reported sighting parts of the plane three months after the flight.

"My heart started pounding," Mr. Decré, 71, remembers.

So Mr. Nungesser and navigator François Coli might have been the first men to fly nonstop to North America from Continental Europe. Messrs. Nungesser and Coli would then have held the world flight distance record, if only for 12 days and under tragic circumstances.

The race was triggered when New York hotelier Raymond Orteig in 1919 offered a $25,000 prize for the first nonstop trans-Atlantic flight between New York and Paris. In the ensuing years, a number of fliers made it across in other ways—via Ireland, or by refueling at sea—but the nonstop, continent-to-continent challenge was different. "There was an incredible competition to drive the birth of commercial aviation," says Eric Lindbergh, the aviator's grandson.

Mr. Nungesser was right out of the age of swashbuckling adventurers who lived short, glamorous lives. Photographs show him with thick, swept-back blond hair—and a scar on his chin from one of his many crashes. At 16, he left France for Brazil and Argentina, where he boxed, raced cars and learned to fly a plane over the Pampas.

Returning to France at the outbreak of World War I, Mr. Nungesser got himself into a bomber squadron. He achieved fame in 1915, when he abandoned his post to take off in a fighter plane and shoot down a German Albatros biplane. He was put under house arrest by his French military superiors for insubordination—and awarded the Croix de Guerre by France for heroism in combat.

Made a fighter pilot, he finished the war with 43 official victories, the third highest of French fliers, having suffered a number of fractures and bullet wounds.

After the war, Mr. Nungesser lived in a house on the Champs-Élysées, partied at Fouquet's, the famous brasserie, and lost money running a flying school. To raise cash, he sold off a Rolls-Royce that King George V had given him as a gift. To revive his fortunes, Mr. Nungesser went to the U.S. to star as himself in a 1925 film called "The Sky Raider." And that led to air shows, where he re-enacted his World War I dog fights.

On May 8, 1927, while Mr. Lindbergh was stuck in fog on Long Island, Messrs. Nungesser and Coli took off from Le Bourget, the airport north of Paris. The plane was given a military escort to the Normandy coast. Thousands of people crowded New York City's Battery Park to see the scheduled touchdown on the water near the Statue of Liberty.

Two weeks later, however, Mr. Nungesser had still not turned up, and Mr. Lindbergh arrived triumphantly in Paris.

Over the decades, reports circulated of plane wrecks in Newfoundland and Maine—along or near the planned route—that might have been the Oiseau Blanc. Some researchers in Newfoundland found a moss-covered pair of French binoculars of a type made between 1910 and 1920. But no conclusive evidence was turned up. In 1984, a French government report concluded that there was no evidence that Messrs. Nungesser and Coli had completed their ocean crossing.

Mr. Decré, an amateur pilot and sailor, became obsessed with the story in 2006, after his daughter had given him a book on mysterious wrecks.

Trying to figure out the fate of the Oiseau Blanc, he studied weather records from the day of Mr. Nungesser's flight and interviewed elderly people in Newfoundland. Some remembered talking to eyewitnesses who heard a plane flying over the island on May 9, 1927.

Mr. Decré found the telegram while trawling through U.S. Coast Guard records at the National Archives in Washington. On Aug. 18, 1927, a Coast Guard officer said he had seen a pair of joined white wings floating several hundred miles off the coast.

Mr. Decré's findings were examined in January by the history and culture committee of the Aéroclub de France in Paris.

France's culture minister turned up in July as he was continuing research on the French islands of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, south of Newfoundland. The ultimate goal is to find a piece of the plane, something he hopes to do with the aid of divers and sonar equipment.

In July, in Saint-Pierre, he found a copy of the parish bulletin for May-June 1927, mentioning that an airplane engine had been heard over the south coast of Newfoundland. "We want to establish the true history of the tragic end of our pilots," says Mr. Decré. "Then we want to answer Lindbergh's question, by saying we have now had news of Nungesser."

Write to Sebastian Moffett at

Kendall Gott
Kendall Gott

Disappearing without a trace is not a successful flight.

CHUCK HARMON subscriber

Who gave the author of this story the right to move the "Goal Post" in this clearly defined contest; and, then speculate on another winner?

Daniel Varner
Daniel Varner profilePrivateuser

1st person to successfully cross the Atlantic was Lindbergh. Crashing and killing oneself seems to scream of "Unsuccessful" Just say'n

Barry Schmidt
Barry Schmidt

It was obvious that both Nungesser and Lindbergh were MEN, in that they had the courage to even attempt such dangerous flights. It isn't important who "won." What is important is that we should honor and applaud the courage of these two men, rather than dwell on trying to discover who "won." Courage and leadership is so difficult to find these days in those who find themselves in the national spotlight, and when it is found, it should be recognized and honored as such---even though such courage may not be "PC."

Roger Brown
Roger Brown subscriber

The Orteig prize of $25,000 was to the first aviator to cross the Atlantic in a land or water aircraft either Paris to NYC or the other direction. Didn't matter solo or crew. Two other aircraft flown by Byrd and Chamberlin were preparing for the flight same time as Lindbergh. Not quickly enough.

Brent Edwards
Brent Edwards profilePrivateuser

I had heard this story years ago and forgotten. While I feel Nungesser was the first to accomplish the feat, sadly he flew off course and crashed. Then the Lindbergh "Reich" took over. I recall someone finding an aircraft motor in the forest but being unable to return to it. Maybe someone will stumble upon it one day.

William Hopwood
William Hopwood profilePrivateuser

I was nine years old when Nungesser and Coli disappeared but still well remember all the excitement surrounding their flight and the competition with Lindbergh to be the first to claim the prize of $25,000 (more than $250,000 in today's dollars) for a first NON STOP flight across the Atlantic from Paris to New York or vice versa. As I recall, it was assumed at the time that Nungesser and Coli were lost at sea somewhere near Newfoundland. Lindbergh, of course, went on to win the prize and took the limelight while the story of Nungesser and Coli gradually faded into the dustbin of history. Thanks to this fine story the long-forgotten flight of World War One ace Charles Nungesser (France's Eddie Rickenbacker) and his colleague Coli has at long last been revived.

Peter Duncan
Peter Duncan profilePrivateuser

Very interesting article. It seems like the only time you hear anything about the fliers of "The Great War" is on an oldies station when "Snoopy vs The Red Baron" is played, or during the French Open, when a mention of Roland Garros always reminds me of that great flier.
We always remember the Greatest Generation because they're our friends, parents, or Grandparents, but when you go to any community in Western Europe, the names on the memorials to the Great War brings the losses into focus.

Rezso Magashazy
Rezso Magashazy user

What's the problem? The prize was for flying from Paris to NYC or vice versa. If Nungesser had made it to Newfoundland, he still would not have won. BTW Charles Nungesser is one of my WWI heroes.

William Lovin
William Lovin subscriber

First non-stop flight was Alcock & Brown in 1919. First solo non-stop was Lindbergh in 1927. Not sure where that leaves Nungesser and Coli whose flight was neither first nor solo.

There is of course the trivial distinction of flying from/to continental Europe, but as seen by history, it is just that - a trivial distinction.

Nate Smith
Nate Smith subscriber

I just do not think arriving dead counts in Aviation .

EUAN SCOTT subscriberprofilePrivate

Interesting, but the first non-stop transatlantic flight was made several years before by John Alcock & Arthur Whitten Brown, piloting a Vickers Vimy, in 1919.

Tom Bucceri
Tom Bucceri

The contest was to fly between New York and Paris, not between North America and Europe. So Lindbergh won even if Nungesser's plane turns up in Newfoundland.

Steve Fowler
Steve Fowler profilePrivateuser

Well, you can't really receive an award if you're dead, now can you?

Danny Hoffert
Danny Hoffert subscriber

The insignia on the side of Le Oiseau Blanc is sadly appropriate.

arthur kille
arthur kille

Also worth adding to the fact that he was the first solo pilot, was that it was done with a single engine aircraft. The Ryan people and the Wright engine deserve much historical praise as well..

Updegrove Kathlyn
Updegrove Kathlyn subscriber

Obviously Lindbergh got there first. Demonstrably, since Nungesser still hasn't arrived.

Harry Bobolia
Harry Bobolia

Interesting. I read a biography of Lindbergh by A. Scott Berg. Berg painted a picture of a rather unpleasant man who thought Hitler was a great man. He was a great and daring aviator, though.

William W. Gorman
William W. Gorman subscriber

There is a rumor the plane crashed in northern Maine and has been the subject of searches in years past. It could be an interesting find but won't really change the course of history.

Scott Reifschneider
Scott Reifschneider profilePrivateuser

Good thing this French dude is reporting what Clive Cussler already did in "The Sea Hunters II" about 15 years ago. France should stick to going on strike when there is a Brie shortage, bit#h about retiring at 62 and preparing for the last war (e.g. magnoit line).

Ian McDermott
Ian McDermott user

Interesting story. I hope they learn more.

Pocho Basura
Pocho Basura profilePrivateuser

Overlooked in this article is that Chuck Lindberg was the first to do it >SOLO< many had crossed before, but not alone.

Al London
Al London subscriber

Silly argument. Crossing the finish line alive is the point. If you fail one or both of those things at the same time, you can't be considered the winner, however brave or daring the attempt.

John Van Stry
John Van Stry profilePrivateuser

If you don't survive, it doesn't count. Also Maine and New Finland are a lot closer than NYC.

Joel Rydbeck
Joel Rydbeck profilePrivateuser

I'm not sure I understand how the article can even pose the question "...Did His Rival Get There First?" Nungesser didn't make it to NYC. Making the long journey AND being able to land at a predetermined airport were both parts of the challenge. How does the author rationalize there even being a question?

Roger Brown
Roger Brown subscriber

Soldiers and elan vs machine guns and rapid firing artillery is the WWI reality.

My father in law at age 17 was a machine gunner and communications runner with the 5th Canadian Division. Two of his brothers were KIA British army.

Bob Sutton
Bob Sutton user

Au always goes from west to east and with the slow airplanes of the day it is a significant factor of success...............

Lee Gaffrey
Lee Gaffrey subscriber

Agreed, Mr. London. The young man from Little Falls, Minnesota completed all of the requirements to obtain the prize. Case closed.

ALLAN BIRD subscriber

The article has a "the operation was successful but the patient died" sort of logic.

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