Across the Atlantic on wing and a prayer

October 8, 1980

Jaromir Wagner made history by crossing the Atlantic on top of an airplane. Mr. Wagner touched down here after an eight-hour flight from Greenland in wind-chill conditions as low as 94 degrees below zero. Perched on top of his twin-engine de Havilland Islander aircraft, just behind the cockpit, he wore a skin diver's suit, leather overalls, and woolen underwear as protection against the elements.

Stops on the trip from Giesses, West Germany, included Aberdeen, Scotland, the Faeroes Islands, and Iceland. Two pilots inside the plane took turns flying the craft.