In July 1963, Ingrid Pedersen became the first woman to fly over the North Pole. The flight began in Fairbanks, Alaska, on 29 July and ended in Bodø, Norway, the following day, with a stop at Station Nord in northeast Greenland.
Pedersen flew a single-engine Cessna 205 together with her husband, the Norwegian navigator Einar Sverre Pedersen. The aircraft crossed the North Pole after around 17 hours in the air at an altitude of approximately 3,000 feet. The full journey took just over 32 hours.
Ingrid Pedersen (1933–2012) was born in Stockholm and obtained her pilot’s licence in 1957, becoming the 13th woman in Sweden to do so. After moving to Alaska in 1962, she also qualified as a pilot in the United States. The North Pole flight took place the following year.
At the time, the flight brought her recognition, including the Amelia Earhart Medal of the Ninety-Nines in 1963 and a Gold Plaque from the Royal Swedish Aero Club in 1964.
Pedersen later described the flight as a test of skill rather than a defining achievement. In an interview in 1996, she stated that the journey gave her confidence, but did not in itself stand out as exceptional.
Her subsequent career was closely tied to polar aviation. From 1975, she flew extensively in Svalbard, transporting passengers and cargo and undertaking assignments for the Norwegian Polar Institute. She also carried out landings on drifting sea ice in connection with scientific work. During the winter of 1978–79, she overwintered in Svalbard and worked there as a pilot for Lufttransport.
In 1979, she emigrated to the United States with her husband, Einar Sverre Pedersen (1919–2008). From then on, she worked as a commercial pilot and flight instructor in Alaska. In 1992, she joined the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum, where she served as Associate Director. In 1996, she published a memoir of her Arctic flying experiences titled Parfyme og motorolje (“Perfume and Motor Oil”).
Pedersen died in 2012. Her 1963 flight remains an early example of long-distance light aircraft operations across the central Arctic.
Léa Zinsli, PolarJournal