Helen Richey (1909–1947)
Helen Richey was the first female to be hired as a commercial pilot in the US. She was born in McKeesport, Pennsylvania in 1909. She was an 'unconventional child' by the standards of those days, shunning dolls and girlish artifacts in favour of boyish pursuits, and even attempted to run away to join the circus when she was 12. During her teens, Richey was one of the few girls in her town to wear trousers. She learned how to fly a plane at age 20, and although her father was strict and had disapproved of her 'ways', he did buy her a plane when she obtained her pilot's license. That sure beats a pony!
A year later she earned her commercial pilot's license, then in 1933 she was contacted by fellow pilot Francis Marsalis about making an attempt at an endurance flying record. After taking off from a Miami airport the two women stayed aloft in a small monoplane for nine days and 22 hours! Soon after setting this record, Helen was hired by by Central Airlines. On December 31, 1934 making her the first female pilot to work as a pilot for a regularly scheduled commercial airline and the first female to fly the mail. However despite this milestone, Helen’s application to the pilot’s union was rejected because she was a woman. After ten months she resigned from Central Airlines.
In 1942 the US Woman’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) was organised and Richey was one of the first to sign up. She spent the next 16 months ferrying aircraft from American factories to air bases. The WASP organization was disbanded in December of 1944 and Helen Richey returned to McKeesport, PA.
After the war – and with the men returned – Helen was unable to find work, without being allowed to join unions, sexism thwarted her beloved career at every turn, despite her world records and war effort. On January 7, 1947 she was found on the bed in her New York apartment, dead from an apparent overdose of sleeping pills. The aviation industry honour her as a pioneer and inspiration to this day.
Helen Richey was the first female to be hired as a commercial pilot in the US. She was born in McKeesport, Pennsylvania in 1909. She was an 'unconventional child' by the standards of those days, shunning dolls and girlish artifacts in favour of boyish pursuits, and even attempted to run away to join the circus when she was 12. During her teens, Richey was one of the few girls in her town to wear trousers. She learned how to fly a plane at age 20, and although her father was strict and had disapproved of her 'ways', he did buy her a plane when she obtained her pilot's license. That sure beats a pony!
A year later she earned her commercial pilot's license, then in 1933 she was contacted by fellow pilot Francis Marsalis about making an attempt at an endurance flying record. After taking off from a Miami airport the two women stayed aloft in a small monoplane for nine days and 22 hours! Soon after setting this record, Helen was hired by by Central Airlines. On December 31, 1934 making her the first female pilot to work as a pilot for a regularly scheduled commercial airline and the first female to fly the mail. However despite this milestone, Helen’s application to the pilot’s union was rejected because she was a woman. After ten months she resigned from Central Airlines.
In 1942 the US Woman’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) was organised and Richey was one of the first to sign up. She spent the next 16 months ferrying aircraft from American factories to air bases. The WASP organization was disbanded in December of 1944 and Helen Richey returned to McKeesport, PA.
After the war – and with the men returned – Helen was unable to find work, without being allowed to join unions, sexism thwarted her beloved career at every turn, despite her world records and war effort. On January 7, 1947 she was found on the bed in her New York apartment, dead from an apparent overdose of sleeping pills. The aviation industry honour her as a pioneer and inspiration to this day.
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