Airline Pilot (Retired), Author, Artist and Mom
“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. Her
memoir, Flying Tigress, was published in 2005. (Available on Amazon or www.
norahoneill.com)
Norah is an active member of the Society of Woman Airline Pilots, Women in
Aviation, the Airline Pilots Association, and the Flying Tiger Retired Pilots’
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 painting wearable art.
“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. Her
memoir, Flying Tigress, was published in 2005. (Available on Amazon or www.
norahoneill.com)
Norah is an active member of the Society of Woman Airline Pilots, Women in
Aviation, the Airline Pilots Association, and the Flying Tiger Retired Pilots’
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 painting wearable art.
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| Using aviation to entertain and educate girls about their limitless opportunities... |
| Using aviation to entertain and educate girls about their limitless opportunities... |
| Using aviation to entertain and educate girls about their limitless opportunities... |
TM
| Using aviation to entertain and educate girls about their limitless opportunities... |
| Using aviation to entertain and educate girls about their limitless opportunities... |
| Using aviation to entertain and educate girls about their limitless opportunities... |
TM
