Just after 11:30 p.m., November 28, 1929, somewhere over an unknown glacier pass leading to Antarctica’s Polar Plateau, nearing absolute ceiling at 9,500 feet. Suddenly, the ailerons of the powerful Ford Tri-motor failed to have any effect, and the wheel turned loosely in the hands of pilot Bernt Balchen. "It’s drop 200 pounds or go back!" he shouted. The navigator, Admiral Richard E. Byrd, made a critical decision. He could drop fuel or the extra food that might make the difference between life and death if they had to ditch the plane. Byrd jettisoned a 150-pound bag of food, and the airplane started climbing.

The Tri-motor had reached 9,800 feet, but that wasn’t enough to clear the pass. Again the wheel turned loosely, and Balchen bellowed for more. Another bag of food went through the trap door. The plane began to climb slowly. Just past midnight, it lofted over the hump of the pass. A clear path to the South Pole lay dead ahead. At 1:14 a.m. Byrd relayed the message, “My calculations indicate we are in the vicinity of the South Pole. Flying high for survey. Soon turn North…” For the first time, humankind had flown over the imaginary point that marks the very bottom of the earth. Byrd opened the trap door and dropped an American flag.

Just as important as this overflight was the complete aerial photographic record of the lane between Little America and the South Pole. The photos showed—for the first time—a true geographical picture of the Antarctic continent.