Lieutenant Colonel William Pershing Benedict (d. August 31, 1974) was an American pilot from California. He wanted to join the U.S. Army Air Force for pilot training, but was rejected due to his modest education. Instead, he joined the Canadian Air Training Program and was licensed as a pilot in 1941. Subsequently, he was transferred to Great Britain, where he flew Spitfires and Hurricanes. During World War II, he fought from July 8, 1942 on in Northern Africa and over Italy. On December 15, 1942, he succeeded to transfer to the USAAF, where he flew Curtiss P-40s and later P-47 Thunderbolts. He returned to the U.S. on December 16, 1944.
Benedict is best known for having flown together with Lt. Col. Joseph O. Fletcher as his co-pilot a U.S. Air Force C-47 modified to have skis and wheels to the North Pole, where they became the first humans to land a plane on May 3, 1952 and (together with scientist Albert P. Crary) the first persons to set foot on the exact geographical North Pole.
Benedict left the USAF in 1962 and later worker as a firefighting pilot in California. He was killed while dropping fire retardant in the Ukiah area of California on August 31, 1974.

Footnotes

Note 1: The original article in the Polar Times stated that Fletcher was the pilot, but in the Fall/Winter 1997 issue of the Polar Times, following a personal communication from Mr. Fletcher, a correction appeared stating that Benedict had been in charge of that flight. This is also confirmed by the interview Brian Shoemaker conducted with Fletcher in 1997 (link below).