The Hunt for the White Bird Begins

Nearly a century ago, two French aviators attempted something many people thought impossible.

On May 8, 1927, Charles Nungesser and François Coli took off from Paris in a striking white aircraft called L’Oiseau Blanc — The White Bird. Their goal: to be the first to fly nonstop across the Atlantic to New York and claim the $25,000 Orteig Prize.

They never arrived.

Two weeks later, a relatively unknown American airmail pilot named Charles Lindbergh would complete the feat and become the world's most famous aviator.

But here’s the twist: Lindbergh himself believed the French team had a very good chance of beating him.

And there is compelling evidence they may have made it all the way to Newfoundland before disaster struck.

That’s the mystery we explore in a special three-part series of my podcast, Miles Ahead.

In Part 1, we go back to the extraordinary moment in aviation history when the Atlantic became the ultimate proving ground. Multiple teams were racing for the Orteig Prize, pushing fragile aircraft — and themselves — to the absolute limit.

My guide through this mystery is Ric Gillespie, founder of TIGHAR — The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery and one of the world’s leading investigators of aviation cold cases. His decades-long search for the White Bird helped launch TIGHAR itself and remains one of the most fascinating unsolved investigations in aviation history.

Together we explore:

• The forgotten race for the Orteig Prize

• The daring strategy Nungesser and Coli used to fly against the prevailing winds

• Why their disappearance may not be a mystery at all

• And the tantalizing clues that lead to a remote pond in Newfoundland

In Part 2, the investigation begins in earnest.

We follow the trail of eyewitnesses in Newfoundland who reported seeing — and hearing — a white aircraft on the morning of May 9, 1927. These weren’t vague memories decades later. Many of the sightings were sworn affidavits recorded at the time, now preserved in Newfoundland archives.

Those reports suggest the White Bird may have reached North America… only to run into trouble.

Then, in Part 3, we dive into the modern search.

Ric Gillespie and his team have conducted multiple expeditions to a remote site called Great Gull Pond, where artifacts recovered from the mud may be linked to the aircraft itself. One fragment contained residues consistent with burned castor oil — the lubricant used in the White Bird’s French-built engine.

If the wreckage is really there, it could rewrite the history of transatlantic flight.

We are approaching a major anniversary.

May 2027 marks the 100th anniversary of Lindbergh’s flight.

Before that date, Ric Gillespie and TIGHAR hope to mount a new expedition to Newfoundland in spring 2026 — using modern technology and a field team capable of finally locating whatever remains of the aircraft beneath the mud and silt.

But they need help to do it.

If you’d like to support the search — and help solve one of aviation history’s most enduring mysteries — you can contribute directly through TIGHAR.

👉 Donate here:
https://tighar.org