HonorPay
Helen Richey 
Helen Richey
New York and PA, United States
Helen Richey became the first woman in history to pilot a commercial flight in the US, the first to fly dedicated air mail flights and one of the first female flight instructors. She eventually was forced to step down from the cockpit by the all-male pilots union. In a 1974 article in The Pittsburgh Press, reporter Ann Butler wrote, “To this day, her older sister, Lucille Richey Gamble, as well as her niece, Amy Lannan, believe Richey took her own life because she could no longer fly commerc
JOINED: over a year ago
HONORS:
LAST 12 MONTHS: 0
AWARDED: 0
LAST ACTIVE: NEVER
Richey was the first female pilot to be hired to fly by a commercial scheduled passenger carrier on December 13, 1934 with Central Airlines. Although she won the job after competing with eight men, the Airline Pilots Association and the Department of Commerce, in a case of gross sex discrimination, forced her out. She resigned in November 1935. Women were not to become airline pilots again until 1973. https://sandiegoairandspace.org/exhibits/online-exhibit-page/helen-richey-first-female-commercial-pilot
ACCOUNT: : In Memoriam :
New York and PA, United States
Helen Richey became the first woman in history to pilot a commercial flight in the US, the first to fly dedicated air mail flights and one of the first female flight instructors. She eventually was forced to step down from the cockpit by the all-male pilots union. In a 1974 article in The Pittsburgh Press, reporter Ann Butler wrote, “To this day, her older sister, Lucille Richey Gamble, as well as her niece, Amy Lannan, believe Richey took her own life because she could no longer fly commerc
JOINED: over a year ago
HONORS:
2
LAST 12 MONTHS: 0
AWARDED: 0
LAST ACTIVE: NEVER
Richey was the first female pilot to be hired to fly by a commercial scheduled passenger carrier on December 13, 1934 with Central Airlines. Although she won the job after competing with eight men, the Airline Pilots Association and the Department of Commerce, in a case of gross sex discrimination, forced her out. She resigned in November 1935. Women were not to become airline pilots again until 1973. https://sandiegoairandspace.org/exhibits/online-exhibit-page/helen-richey-first-female-commercial-pilot
ACCOUNT: : In Memoriam :
Honors Received