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What problem did Richard E. Byrd and Floyd Bennett encounter during their 1926 flight?
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Richard E. Byrd
Richard E. Byrd.
During their 1926 flight from Spitsbergen toward the North Pole, Richard E. Byrd and pilot Floyd Bennett encountered an oil leak from the starboard engine of their Fokker trimotor airplane.1
Byrd’s diary, discovered in 1996, suggests that this mechanical issue was the reason he decided to turn the aircraft back before reaching the pole, as he was concerned about the leak. While the pair initially claimed to have successfully reached the pole, this discovery cast significant doubt on the achievement, and historical credit for the first flight over the North Pole is generally attributed to the expedition led by Roald Amundsen, Lincoln Ellsworth, and Umberto Nobile, which occurred three days later.12