Bloody Hell!
Looking at the past few days pressure patterns for the crossing, the guy certainly had a bit of luck on his side - he needed it!
Bloody hell........ the GC distance between t/o and ldg is 1685 Nm and if he had a GS of 110 kts that's a flying time of 15 hrs 19 mins.
Was it wise to try this one hop in a single engined machine, and a certain night landing (or a ditching at night) at an airport with Notam's that did not help the picture! The ILS was 'out' too.
Have a look at the weather St John's was pushing out; then the surface chart (say up to 6000') and the forecasts.
That aircraft must have been stuffed with fuel: the pilot did well not to fall asleep (how did he manage that?) in what must have been a very long day - meal/planning/flying 20 hrs at least.
Did he carry a single-seat dinghy - or was that weight converted to fuel?
Insurance for such a flight must have been an interesting issue (EC785/2004).
I do not find these sort of flights appealing.
That nobody else was sucked into a near death experience is a saving grace. The brave SAR teams get enough real accidents to deal with without having to deal with this sort of bravado.
Somebody must have wanted this C172 quickly and cheaply; that it nearly cost the pilot some serious grief/life is a price they should all be thinking of now.
TG