French aviators Dieudonné Costes and co-pilot Joseph Le Brix became the first pilots to fly across the South Atlantic Ocean 90 years ago, on 14-15 October 1927.

They set off on 14 October 1927 from Saint-Louis, Senegal and flew more than 3,300km to Port Natal in Brazil.

The pair were flying a Breguet XIX GR and the flight took 18 hours and covered 3,380km. The flight was part of a round-the-world expedition that started in Paris on 10 October1927. They completed the trip on 14 April 1928 after travelling a total of 57,000km.

The biplane was a “sesquiplane,” meaning that the lower of the two wings was significantly smaller than the upper. Approximately 2,400 Breguet XIXs were built.

Photo Credits: U.S. Army Air Corps and Bryan R. Swopes