Norah
Airline Pilot and Author
Hi,
When I grew up there were no women airline pilots in the US
nor were there any women pilots in the military so I did not
dream of making a career in aviation. I was a model and, on
one job, I was flown 10,000 feet up the side of Mt. McKinley in
Alaska and dropped off on a glacier for a five-day photography
session. That ski-plane ride was my first small plane ride and I
fell in love with flying so I started taking lessons. I became a
flight instructor and then the first two women airline pilots
were hired in 1973 and applied for the airlines. Flying Tigers, at
that time, the world's largest cargo airline hired me as their
first woman pilot in 1976. I thought I was the luckiest person
on earth!
Norah O'Neill, born in Seattle, was a commercial pilot for thirty
years, first in the Alaskan bush and then with the airlines Flying
Tigers and Federal Express. She was the first woman pilot for
Flying Tigers, the seventh woman airline pilot hired in the
United States. She was the first woman in the world to pilot
the DC-8 and to fly passengers on the B-747. She was the
first woman airline pilot to land in Korea, Japan, the Philippines,
Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong. Norah was one of the
founders of the International Society of Woman Airline Pilots in
1978. She served as vice president of that society for two
years and as historian for twenty years.
Norah gave her first career day talk to high school students in
1974. She has continued to promote careers for women in
aviation as a speaker to elementary, high school and college
students and at aviation conferences.She has appeared on
Good Morning America and has been interviewed on radio.
Airline Pilot and Author
Hi,
When I grew up there were no women airline pilots in the US
nor were there any women pilots in the military so I did not
dream of making a career in aviation. I was a model and, on
one job, I was flown 10,000 feet up the side of Mt. McKinley in
Alaska and dropped off on a glacier for a five-day photography
session. That ski-plane ride was my first small plane ride and I
fell in love with flying so I started taking lessons. I became a
flight instructor and then the first two women airline pilots
were hired in 1973 and applied for the airlines. Flying Tigers, at
that time, the world's largest cargo airline hired me as their
first woman pilot in 1976. I thought I was the luckiest person
on earth!
Norah O'Neill, born in Seattle, was a commercial pilot for thirty
years, first in the Alaskan bush and then with the airlines Flying
Tigers and Federal Express. She was the first woman pilot for
Flying Tigers, the seventh woman airline pilot hired in the
United States. She was the first woman in the world to pilot
the DC-8 and to fly passengers on the B-747. She was the
first woman airline pilot to land in Korea, Japan, the Philippines,
Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong. Norah was one of the
founders of the International Society of Woman Airline Pilots in
1978. She served as vice president of that society for two
years and as historian for twenty years.
Norah gave her first career day talk to high school students in
1974. She has continued to promote careers for women in
aviation as a speaker to elementary, high school and college
students and at aviation conferences.She has appeared on
Good Morning America and has been interviewed on radio.
Articles about her have been included in six aviation books, in
numerous newspapers and in magazines, including Cosmopolitan and
Us. A life-size mannequin of her is displayed at the San Diego
Aerospace Museum.
Norah was a contributing writer for the book Tiger Tales: An
Anecdotal History of the Flying Tiger Line by LeVerne J. Moldrem;
Flying M Press, 1996. A chapter of the Flying Tigress manuscript
appeared in the quarterly magazine of the International Society of
Women Airline Pilots.
Norah is an active member of the Society of Woman Airline Pilots,
Women in Aviation, the Airline Pilots Association, the Flying Tiger
Retired Pilots’ Association, Mothers Against Drunk Drivers, Planned
Parenthood, and the Pacific NW Writers’ Association.
Norah was a navy brat and attended fifteen different schools before
graduating from the Academy of Our Lady of Peace in San Diego. She
was a finalist in the National Council of Teachers of English contest.
She majored in journalism at University of California at Santa Barbara
and San Diego State University. She holds a BS in Professional
Aeronautics from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University.
Norah is the mother of a son and a daughter and lives in the Pacific
Northwest. She is currently writing a novel.
numerous newspapers and in magazines, including Cosmopolitan and
Us. A life-size mannequin of her is displayed at the San Diego
Aerospace Museum.
Norah was a contributing writer for the book Tiger Tales: An
Anecdotal History of the Flying Tiger Line by LeVerne J. Moldrem;
Flying M Press, 1996. A chapter of the Flying Tigress manuscript
appeared in the quarterly magazine of the International Society of
Women Airline Pilots.
Norah is an active member of the Society of Woman Airline Pilots,
Women in Aviation, the Airline Pilots Association, the Flying Tiger
Retired Pilots’ Association, Mothers Against Drunk Drivers, Planned
Parenthood, and the Pacific NW Writers’ Association.
Norah was a navy brat and attended fifteen different schools before
graduating from the Academy of Our Lady of Peace in San Diego. She
was a finalist in the National Council of Teachers of English contest.
She majored in journalism at University of California at Santa Barbara
and San Diego State University. She holds a BS in Professional
Aeronautics from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University.
Norah is the mother of a son and a daughter and lives in the Pacific
Northwest. She is currently writing a novel.
TM
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