Oskar Omdal

Omdal (left) with Amundsen, 1922

Oskar Omdal (1895 – December 25, 1927) was a Lieutenant and pilot in the Norwegian Navy.

Oskar Omdal was born in Kristiansand, in Vest-Agder county, Norway. Omdal was educated at the Norwegian Naval Flight School (Marinens flygevåpen) in Horten during 1919 and promoted to lieutenant in 1922. In 1923 Omdal and fellow Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen tried to fly from Wainwright, Alaska to Spitsbergen across the North Pole. Amundsen and Omdal's aircraft was damaged and they abandoned the journey. ^[1][2]

Omdal died along with Frances Wilson Grayson and Brice Goldsborough as they were flying to Nova Scotia to prepare to cross the Atlantic Ocean to set the record for the first woman to cross.

Oscar Omdal street in Stavanger and Oscar Omdal terrace in the Hamresanden district of Kristiansand are both named after him.

In 1928, the Ontario Surveyor General named a number of lakes in the northwest of the province to honour aviators who had perished during 1927, mainly in attempting oceanic flights.^{[3] [4]} These include Goldsborough Lake (50°42′N 89°20′W / 50.70°N 89.34°W / 50.70; -89.34), Grayson Lake (50°53′N 89°26′W / 50.88°N 89.43°W / 50.88; -89.43) and Omdahl [sic] Lake (50°49′N 89°29′W / 50.81°N 89.49°W / 50.81; -89.49) which are in close proximity to each other in the Wabakimi Provincial Park.

References

1. ^ Roald Amundsens mislykkede polferd (Norgesglasset NRK)
2. ^ Roald Amundsen (Store norske leksikon)
3. ^ Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (2007). "St. Raphael Signature Site Strategy". Toronto, ON. http://www.ontla.on.ca/library/repository/mon/16000/263650.pdf. Retrieved 2011-07-19.  p 14.
4. ^ "Lost Aviators: New Lakes Named" (in English). The West Australian (Perth, WA): p. 13. 16 January 1928. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article32084097. Retrieved 2011-07-19. 

Other sources

• Arlov, Thor B. (2003) Svalbards historie (Trondheim: Akademisk Forlag) ISBN 82-519-1851-0

Persondata
Name	Omdal, Oskar
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1895
Place of birth
Date of death	December 25, 1927
Place of death