Carl Ben Eielson (1897 - 1929) was an aviator and explorer. He was born in Hatton, North Dakota, USA.
Eielson is best known for flying the first airplane across the Arctic Ocean with Australian explorer Hubert Wilkins in April 1928.
The flight covered 3,540 kilometers (2,200 miles), from Point Barrow, Alaska to the island of Spitsbergen. In December 1928, Eielson and Wilkins were the first people to make air explorations of Antarctica, charting several islands which were previously unknown.
In 1929, Eielson, while performing a rescue mission in Siberia, crashed his plane and was killed.
The Eielson Air Force Base and the Liberty ship SS Carl B. Eielson are named in his honor.
