Floyd Bennett Floyd Bennett ( October 25 , 1890 – April 25 , 1928 ) was an American aviator who piloted Richard E . Byrd on his failed attempt to reach the North Pole in 1926 . Biography . Bennett was born in Warrensburg , New York , in 1890 . He was an automobile mechanic before he enlisted in the Navy in 1917 , during World War I . Bennett was warranted as a machinist , then he attended flight school and learned to fly . Bennett served with Richard E . Byrd on an aviation survey of Greenland in 1925 , on which Byrd came to respect his ability as a pilot . Byrd named Bennett as his pilot for an attempt to reach the North Pole by air in 1926 . Bennett was at the controls on May 9 as the two men made their attempt , in a Fokker Tri - motor called the " Josephine Ford " . They returned to their airfield in Spitsbergen on the same day . Although members of the European press were skeptical of their claim ( because it seemed that the plane had been away from Spitsbergen too briefly to have reached the North Pole ) , Byrd and Bennett were lionized as heroes in America . Bennett received the Medal of Honor for this feat . The subsequent discovery of Byrd ' s diary of the flight , with erased ( but still legible ) sextant readings , has shown that they could not possibly have reached the North Pole ( see Bernt Balchen ) . After returning to the United States , Bennett flew the " Josephine Ford " on a goodwill tour of America , with Balchen as his co - pilot . Byrd and his team had been leading candidates to win the large Orteig Prize in 1927 , to be awarded for the first nonstop flight between France and the United States . Once again , Byrd named Bennett as his pilot for the attempt . However , Bennett was seriously injured during a practice flight and the airplane ( a Fokker F - VIIb - 3m named " America " ) was badly damaged when it crashed on take - off . Byrd and his fellow pilot George O . Noville were also slightly injured in the crash . Following this failure by Bennett and Byrd , Charles Lindbergh won the Orteig Prize , flying from Long Island , New York , nonstop to Paris , France . Bremen Flyers . The crew of the Bremen were stranded in Greenly Island , Canada following a non - stop flight attempt from Europe . Floyd Bennett and Bernt Balchen flew a Ford Trimotor to provide relief to the downed pilots . Bennett had developed pneumonia following his previous crash . Bennett succumbed to his fever while in flight on April 25 , 1928 . Balchen flew the remaining eight hours , and he was paid $ 10 , 000 for the effort , an amount that was passed to Bennett ' s widow . Bennett ' s remains were buried in Arlington National Cemetery . Honors . Two airports in New York are named in honor of Floyd Bennett : Floyd Bennett Field , New York City ' s first municipal airport , and Floyd Bennett Memorial Airport in Queensbury , New York , near his birthplace . The destroyer is also named in his honor . On his flight to the South Pole in 1929 , Byrd named his Ford Tri - motor airplane the " Floyd Bennett " in his honor . In his hometown of Warrensburg is the Floyd Bennett Park and Bandstand . Medal of Honor citation . Rank and organization : Machinist , U . S . Navy . Born : October 25 , 1890 , Warrensburg , N . Y . Accredited to : New York . Other Navy award : Distinguished Service Medal . Citation : For distinguishing himself conspicuously by courage and intrepidity at the risk of his life as a member of the Byrd Arctic Expedition and thus contributing largely to the success of the first heavier - than - air flight to the North Pole and return .