female pilot

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At 19, She's Inspiring New Generation of Women to Fly

Belgium-British teen Zara Rutherford becomes youngest woman to fly solo around the world

(Newser) - Zara Rutherford just completed a string of firsts. Foremost, the British-Belgian dual citizen, who got her first pilot license in 2020, became the youngest woman to fly around the world solo on Thursday. At just 19, she beat the record held by American Shaesta Waiz, who was 30 when she...

A Female Air Force Pilot Makes History

Capt. Emily Thompson flew an F-35 into combat

(Newser) - "It's a pretty big honor." So said Capt. Emily Thompson after becoming the first woman to fly a stealth fighter jet into combat, Fox News reports. The Air Force says Thompson, call sign "Banzai," flew the F-35A Lightning II in a combat sortie and was...

At 5-Foot-2, This 'Spitfire Girl' Proved Them Wrong in WWII

Mary Ellis was a pioneering female pilot

(Newser) - “Everybody was flabbergasted that a little girl like me could fly these big airplanes all by oneself,” Mary Ellis said at her 100th birthday party last year in Britain. But fly them she did, delivering British Spitfires and other warplanes to the front lines during World War II,...

Afghan Pilot Says She Can't Go Home From US

She applies for asylum, citing death threats

(Newser) - Capt. Niloofar Rahmani's story seems to sum up the dismal state of women's rights in Afghanistan more than 15 years after the Taliban were forced from power. The 25-year-old is the first female fixed-wing pilot in her country's air force, but she says she has received death...

Female WWII Pilot Is Finally Honored at Arlington

'This now is about closure,' says granddaughter

(Newser) - It took an act of Congress, but World War II pilot Elaine Harmon is finally being laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery, reports the AP . Harmon died last year at age 95. She was one of the Women Airforce Service Pilots, a group of women who flew military aircraft...

Female WWII Pilots Regain Right to Be Buried at Arlington

'I think that the WASP deserve to have that honor'

(Newser) - Female WWII pilots are once again allowed to have their ashes buried with honors at Arlington National Cemetery thanks to legislation passed by Congress this week, the Los Angeles Times reports. More than 1,000 women flew noncombat and training missions as part of the Women Airforce Service Pilots program...

Women Land Plane in Country That Doesn't Allow Them to Drive

They're Royal Brunei Airlines' first all-female pilot crew

(Newser) - Royal Brunei Airlines' first all-female pilot crew landed in Saudi Arabia last month to celebrate Brunei's National Day. It was a bit of an ironic moment—a fact not lost on the Telegraph , which states it highlighted "the absurdity of laws preventing women from driving cars." Women...

Female Pilot Led UAE Airstrikes Against ISIS

Maj. Mariam Al Mansouri, 35, was first woman to join Emirates' air force

(Newser) - If a country's going to send military pilots to fight ISIS, it's going to send its very best. Which is why the United Arab Emirates selected Maj. Mariam Al Mansouri, 35—the first female fighter pilot in the Emirates air force—to lead one of its airstrike missions...

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