Famous aviator Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. captures the first aerial footage of the South Pole, Antarctica, 1929

Above the South Pole, famous aviator Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. flies his Ford tri-motor "Floyd Bennett" airplane and captures the first aerial images of the frozen terrain. Antarctica, 1929. Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr., an American naval officer, was a pioneering American aviator, polar explorer, and organizer of polar logistics. Aircraft flights in which he served as a navigator and expedition leader crossed the Atlantic Ocean, a segment of the Arctic Ocean, and a segment of the Antarctic Plateau.