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| Encouraging more women and girls to have an interest in aviation... |
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Sarah:
Recently this summer I decided to move to Alaska to follow my dreams of working around
aviation. I was hired with a small air carrier service as a tour coordinator and dispatcher that
would evolve dealing with passengers from various cruises, and dispatching tours to fly over
the Misty Fjords National Monument. By the time I moved from Illinois to Alaska for the
summer, I had already begun my flight training in a Cessna 172 that had been converted to a
tail dragger, and accumulated almost eighty hours of dual strictly in a tailwheel aircraft. Just
graduating from High School, I found myself ready to pursue my dreams of becoming a
commercial pilot in the heart of Alaska, and decided it was time to take some chances on my
dreams, and pursue my love for flight.
I was surrounded by Pilots who flew the Alaskan Bush in a serious of DeHavilland Beavers, but
none of the pilots quite like Joe would still remain with me. Joe had become my role model for
pursuing my dreams for flying. He shared with me his excitement to hear how I was
determined to find my place as a girl in the aviation industry, and when feelings of
discouragement came, he was the one who helped me back up on my feet. Within a month of
my job, I grew quite found of Joe and his daily “life lessons 101” (as he liked to say). Sure,
some of them taught me that you cannot hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk, or try to
feed it to your dog because in the end, your dog will not want to eat your broccoli either. But
for the most part, he taught me to follow my dreams no matter who discourages them.
As like any other day in my job, I continuously loaded people in and out of planes. I had loaded
a family group of four into the DeHavilland Beaver with Joe, for a routine flight into the Misty
Fjords. An hour later passed, and I went down to the dock to meet the plane, however, it was
not there for me to meet. Over my radio, I heard dispatch trying to signal radio contact with
him, but Joe did not answer. After two hours past Joe’s scheduled arrival time, I had an
unpleasant feeling that I would never be able to hear any more of his daily “life lessons.” Joe’s
plane crashed up in the Misty Fjords that day, killing all five people that I had just put on board
an hour earlier. Ultimately when Joe crashed, so did my dreams for flying.
“Life moves along at a great pace and we are constantly faced with situations where we must
fall back on our instinctive responses” (A.C. Ping) I believe that it is then that we get to see
our real self when there is no time to take a moment and think about what the appropriate
response might have been. For me, I had to regain my confidence in flying instantaneously; for
fear that I would be too scared to pursue something that I love, based on Joe’s fatal accident
that day. Even though it has been a little over three months since I last saw Joe or heard any
more of his life lessons, I have slowly started back in pursuing my dream to fly commercially. I
want to be a role model for girls everywhere to show them that even though some might feel
like giving up their dreams of flying because at times things seem to rough to handle, I just
remember that heartache fades and pain subsides, and though your dreams may seem at
times too rough to handle, remember that they are also too precious of a gift to waste.
Recently this summer I decided to move to Alaska to follow my dreams of working around
aviation. I was hired with a small air carrier service as a tour coordinator and dispatcher that
would evolve dealing with passengers from various cruises, and dispatching tours to fly over
the Misty Fjords National Monument. By the time I moved from Illinois to Alaska for the
summer, I had already begun my flight training in a Cessna 172 that had been converted to a
tail dragger, and accumulated almost eighty hours of dual strictly in a tailwheel aircraft. Just
graduating from High School, I found myself ready to pursue my dreams of becoming a
commercial pilot in the heart of Alaska, and decided it was time to take some chances on my
dreams, and pursue my love for flight.
I was surrounded by Pilots who flew the Alaskan Bush in a serious of DeHavilland Beavers, but
none of the pilots quite like Joe would still remain with me. Joe had become my role model for
pursuing my dreams for flying. He shared with me his excitement to hear how I was
determined to find my place as a girl in the aviation industry, and when feelings of
discouragement came, he was the one who helped me back up on my feet. Within a month of
my job, I grew quite found of Joe and his daily “life lessons 101” (as he liked to say). Sure,
some of them taught me that you cannot hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk, or try to
feed it to your dog because in the end, your dog will not want to eat your broccoli either. But
for the most part, he taught me to follow my dreams no matter who discourages them.
As like any other day in my job, I continuously loaded people in and out of planes. I had loaded
a family group of four into the DeHavilland Beaver with Joe, for a routine flight into the Misty
Fjords. An hour later passed, and I went down to the dock to meet the plane, however, it was
not there for me to meet. Over my radio, I heard dispatch trying to signal radio contact with
him, but Joe did not answer. After two hours past Joe’s scheduled arrival time, I had an
unpleasant feeling that I would never be able to hear any more of his daily “life lessons.” Joe’s
plane crashed up in the Misty Fjords that day, killing all five people that I had just put on board
an hour earlier. Ultimately when Joe crashed, so did my dreams for flying.
“Life moves along at a great pace and we are constantly faced with situations where we must
fall back on our instinctive responses” (A.C. Ping) I believe that it is then that we get to see
our real self when there is no time to take a moment and think about what the appropriate
response might have been. For me, I had to regain my confidence in flying instantaneously; for
fear that I would be too scared to pursue something that I love, based on Joe’s fatal accident
that day. Even though it has been a little over three months since I last saw Joe or heard any
more of his life lessons, I have slowly started back in pursuing my dream to fly commercially. I
want to be a role model for girls everywhere to show them that even though some might feel
like giving up their dreams of flying because at times things seem to rough to handle, I just
remember that heartache fades and pain subsides, and though your dreams may seem at
times too rough to handle, remember that they are also too precious of a gift to waste.
