Orteig Prize

Orteig Prize

Prize medal awarded to Charles Lindbergh

Lindbergh accepting the prize from Orteig in New York, June 16, 1927^[1]

The Orteig Prize was a reward of $25,000 offered in 1919 by New York City hotel owner Raymond Orteig to the first Allied aviator, or aviators, to fly non-stop from New York City to Paris or vice versa.^[2] Several famous aviators made unsuccessful attempts at the New York–Paris flight before the relatively unknown American Charles Lindbergh won the prize in 1927 in his aircraft Spirit of St. Louis.

However, a number of people died who were competing to win the prize. Six people died in three separate crashes, and another three were injured in a fourth crash. The Prize occasioned considerable investment in aviation, sometimes far exceeding the value of the prize itself, and advancing public interest and the level of aviation technology.