Douglas Corrigan
Aviation pioneer
Died when: 88 years 321 days (1066 months)Star Sign: Aquarius
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Douglas Corrigan (January 22, 1907 – December 9, 1995) was an American aviator, nicknamed "Wrong Way" in 1938.After a transcontinental flight in July from Long Beach, California, to New York City, he then flew from Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn to Ireland, though his flight plan was filed to return to Long Beach.
Corrigan claimed his unauthorized transatlantic flight was due to a navigational error, caused by heavy cloud cover that obscured landmarks and low-light conditions, causing him to misread his compass.
However, he was a skilled aircraft mechanic (he helped construct Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St.Louis) and had made several modifications to his own plane, preparing it for his transatlantic flight.
He had been denied permission to make a nonstop flight from New York to Ireland, and his "navigational error" was seen as deliberate.
Nevertheless, he never publicly admitted to having flown to Ireland intentionally.
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