Yvonne Cunha
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Yvonne Cunha | |
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| Born | 1945 Antwerp, Belgium |
| Nationality | Belgium |
Yvonne Anne Marcelle Cunha was born in Antwerp, Belgium, in 1945.[1]. She showed a great love of flying from an early age, reportedly making her dolls 'fly' out of the window, and later joined a local gliding club after graduating high school in 1962[2]. She applied for flight school in 1969, but was told that only stewardess positions were available[3]. This did not stop Cunha, though, and her persistence at Sotramat Flying School eventually led to her becoming an instructor there[4].
In 1974, a new airline called Trans European Airways (TEA) put out a call looking for black and female pilots, eventually leading them to Cunha for their reported publicity stunt[4]. She was sent to Seattle, Washington to train with Boeing on the 707, and even designed her own uniform, as none had been made with women in mind[3][4]. Cunha, known as "Captain Pussy," faced much harassment and discrimination from male co-workers, but she didn't let that slow her down. She eventually worked for four different airlines; TEA, European Airlines, Constellation International Airlines, and VLM Airlines[4]. Cunha also boasted over 25,000 hours in the cockpit by the time she retired in 2005, after captaining a Boeing 737 and the Airbus A300[3]. She was also one of the first women to pilot the Airbus in 1985[4].
Her last flight was for VLM Airlines, Antwerp-London-Antwerp, on May 9, 2005[4]. She passed away on March 25, 2023, in Prunet-et-Belpuig, France[5]
References
- ↑ "2005-05-10 Yvonne Cunha - VLM Airlines". web.archive.org. 2006-03-20. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
- ↑ Jessen, Gene Nora. “Yvonne Cunha.” Ninety-nines.org, Apr. 1975, https://www.ninety-nines.org/pdf/newsmagazine/19750405.pdf.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "The First Female Boeing 707 Pilot Was Known As 'Captain Pussy'". Jalopnik. 2015-01-05. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 "DPG Media Privacy Gate". myprivacy.dpgmedia.be. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
- ↑ Noëth, Bart (2023-04-13). "Captain Pussy, first female Boeing 707 pilot and first captain on the Boeing 737 in Europe, passes away". Aviation24.be. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
External links
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