Welcome Douglas Corrigan

Black and white photograph of a man's head and shoulders in the center of a green cirlce with a blue ring with white stars around it and a red and white striped ring around the outer edge with white text on the green

Douglas Corrigan was an American aviator who gained fame after he flew a solo transatlantic flight from New York to Dublin, Ireland. Corrigan was a mechanic who had worked on Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis. Likely inspired by Lindbergh, Corrigan purchased a small, single engine plane off a trash heap, rebuilt it, and flew from California to New York. After arriving in New York, he filed a flight plan to cross the Atlantic Ocean, which was immediately denied. Shortly after, he took off, headed back to the West Coast, but his plane took a turn and disappeared into the clouds. Corrigan landed in Dublin 28 hours later, claiming not to know his whereabouts. His flight license was suspended, and he had to return to the U.S. by ship. By the time his ship docked in New York, he had become a national celebrity dubbed "Wrong Way Corrigan", and he was greeted at the port by a mob of fans.