From Barroom Bet to Stolen Aircraft: The Unbelievable Flights of Thomas Fitzpatrick

In September 1956, there was a man named Thomas Fitzpatrick. He had a few too many drinks in a bar in New York City. When he was drunk, he made a bet with someone that he could fly from New Jersey to New York City in just 15 minutes.

At 3 a.m., he did something very risky. He stole a small airplane from an airport called Teterboro. He didn’t turn on the airplane’s lights or radio. He flew the plane and landed it on a street called St. Nicholas Avenue, close to 191st Street, right in front of the same bar where he made the bet. The New York Times even said it was a good landing and impressive flying. But what he did was illegal, and he had to pay a $100 fine because the owner of the plane didn’t want to press charges.

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Then, in October 1958, Fitzpatrick did something even crazier. He stole another plane from the same airport and landed it on a street called Amsterdam Avenue near 187th Street. He did this because someone didn’t believe that he had done it the first time.

For the second stolen flight, a judge named John A. Mullen sentenced him to six months in prison. When the police asked him why he did it again, he said it was because someone didn’t believe his first flight.

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Fitzpatrick had been a Marine during the Korean War and even received a Purple Heart for his service. He had a family with three sons and was married for 51 years. He worked as a steamfitter. He passed away in 2009 when he was 79 years old.

Because of his daring airplane feats, there’s a mixed drink named after him called the “Late Night Flight.”