May 17, 1927 (Tuesday)
- The planned transatlantic flight of Lloyd W. Bertaud and Clarence D. Chamberlin, who were racing against Lindbergh and Byrd to become the first persons to fly an airplane from New York to Paris, was cancelled after an argument between the two fliers and their chief backer, Charles A. Levine.
- The town of Melville, Louisiana, population 1,028 was destroyed when a levee on the Atchafalaya River gave way.
- Died: Major Harold Geiger, Army aviation pioneer, in a plane crash; and Sam Bernard, 64, American comedian
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