There's an interesting parallel to the vanished 1927 Nungesser/Coli attempt to win the $25,000 Ortieg Prize for the first nonstop flight (in either direction) between New York and Paris. The two French aces disappeared but they may have made it as far as Newfoundland. Even if they did, a record attempt that ends with the death of the aspirants is not successful.
A recent
Wall Street Journal article about a French aviation enthusiast who wants to search for the plane in the ocean southeast of Newfoundland carried the headline "Charles Lindbergh Won the Prize, but Did His Rival Get There First?"
The question shows a complete misunderstanding of the history. The Atlantic had been crossed by air several times. The prize was for the first nonstop flight between the two cities. In the case of Nungesser and Coli, "there" was New York. They didn't make. There's no doubt about that.
Incidentally, the Frenchman's theory is based upon a gross misunderstanding of a U.S. Coast Guard memo he found in the National Archives. I'll be writing about that in an issue of TIGHAR Tracks later this month.