Lt. Col. Robert Couse-Baker/US Air Force
On Feb. 26, two pilots made history when they became the first black female pilots to co-pilot a mainline flight.
Delta pilots Dawn Cook and and Stephanie Johnson (who happens to be Delta’s first black female pilot) led the history-making flight from Detroit to Las Vegas.
“I feel a great sense of responsibility to be a positive role model,” Johnson told Delta in a February interview. “There are so few women in this profession and too many women who still don’t think of it as a career option.”
In honor of their momentous achievement, and the many achievements of groundbreaking female pilots before them, we’ve rounded up 58 powerful photos of women pilots throughout history.
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Dawn Cook and Stephanie Johnson pose for their history-making flight.
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First Lt. Kayla Bowers, a 74th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron A-10 Thunderbolt II pilot, looks out of the cockpit of her aircraft during the squadronâs deployment in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve at Graf Ignatievo, Bulgaria, March 18, 2016. Operation Atlantic Resolve is a demonstration of the United Statesâ continued commitment to the collective security of NATO and dedication to the enduring peace and stability of Europe.
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1st Lt. Meaghan Cosand, C-5B Galaxy pilot with the 312th Airlift Squadron, starts engines in preparation for takeoff from Kadena Air Base, Japan, Aug. 15, 2014. She was flying a mobility channel mission, moving high-priority cargo and passengers among air bases in the U.S. Pacific Command area of responsibility.
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Betty Wall Strohfus, right, a former pilot with the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), sings the national anthem during the Congressional Gold Medal ceremony at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., March 10, 2010. The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest civilian award bestowed by Congress. The WASP program, established during World War II, trained women to fly noncombat military missions.
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Phetogo Molawa, a 21-year-old air force lieutenant stands next to the big Oryx Air Force transport helicopter at the third Women's Conference in Defence in Canturion, South Africa. Molawa is South Africa's first black female pilot August 16, 2007.
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Emilie Denis, the first woman fighter pilot of the French Navy in Toulon, France on January 18, 2006 in front of her future Rafale.
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Brigitte Joubert, one of the only women qualified to pilot rescue helicopters over land and sea in Biarritz, France in August, 2000.
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Aysh Gammo, the first Libyan woman airplane pilot gets ready for a flight in March of 2000 in Tripoli, Libya.
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Flight Lieutenant Joanne Mein, flanked by colleagues of the Royal Australian Air Force's elite aerobatics display team, the Roulettes, rolls her plane during a formation flight over Gippsland, Australia on July 27, 1999.
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Lieutenant Caroline Aigle, 1st Woman Fighter Pilot In Tours, France On May 25, 1999.
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Adine Ossebi, 30, sits in the cockpit of an Air Afrique plane at the Abidjan airport Feb. 15, 1999.
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The Royal Air Force's first woman strike-attack combat pilot Jo Salter waves from the cockpit of a Tornado GR1B after landing at Lossiemouth, Scotland Feb. 1, 1995.
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Barbara Harmer seen through the Concorde window April 16, 1993.
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Lt. (J.G.) Mary Louise Jorgensen was the first woman tactical jet pilot to be assigned to Miramar Naval Air Station at San Diego on Feb. 7, 1977.
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Ann Bostock, 26, the first woman to pilot scheduled services for a British airline, sits in the cockpit of a BAC 111 jet on July 7, 1976.
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Sally D. Murphy, 25, shown here at the controls of the UH-1 'huey' helicopter, is recognized in the U.S. Army as its first woman aviator and also its first military helicopter pilot on August 9, 1974.
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In a Pentagon ceremony, Lieutenant Judith Ann Neuffer of Wooster, Ohio was presented with flight training orders by Navy Secretary John Warner, making her the first military aviatrix in American history on Jan. 10, 1973.
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Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman to have flown in space on June 1, 1963.
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Undated picture taken in the 60' s of American female aviator Jacqueline Cochran. Jacqueline Cochran learned to fly at age 22, and it became a lifetime passion circa 1962.
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First Officer Maureen Dunlop of the ATA (Air Transport Auxiliary), in the cockpit of a Fairey Barracuda torpedo bomber, September 1944.
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Alice Rhonie, one of the first WAFs to arrive at their East Coast Air Base on Sep. 23, 1942.
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The new WAFS, dressed in flying suits and helmets, line up in front of the their flight training on Sep. 23, 1942.
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Valentina Grizodubova was among the first of thousands of Moscow women who volunteered as soon as Moscow was threatened on Oct. 26, 1941.
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Pauline Gower, one of the pool of women pilots who ferrried new aircraft from the factory to the aerodrome on Jan. 10, 1940.
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World War II, Russian front, airwomen circa 1939.
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Elisabeth Lion, French aviator, in May 1938.
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Pilot Beryl Markham, posing for photographer at Abingdon Aerodrome, Berkshire, prior to take off for her solo flight across the Atlantic on Sep. 11, 1936.
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Miss Helen Rickey, first woman to be employed as pilot of an airline on Nov. 7, 1935.
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American actress and amateur pilot Madge Evans with an aircraft, circa 1935.
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Maryse Hilsz, French aviator circa 1935.
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Jean Gardner Batten, New Zealand aviator in Kolkata, India In 1934.
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Miss Le Manoir, french aviator in France, 1933.
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Senora Hermelinda Urvina Briones, 26, of Ambato Ecuador, who claimed to be the first woman of South America to become a pilot, as she appeared at Curtis Airport, Long Island, ready for a practice flight on Dec. 3, 1932.
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Florence Lowe 'Pancho' Barnes is tests a new monoplane in which she hopes to establish a new speed record for women on July 2, 1930.
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Romanian aviatrix Irina Burnaia, onboard of an airplane, is caressing her little good luck dog before starting her flight circa 1930.
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Helene Boucher, French aviator, circa 1930.
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Photograph showing Amy Johnson, with an aeroplane engine. In 1930, Johnson became the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia, winning £10,000 from the 'Daily Mail' newspaper circa 1930.
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Miss Beatrix Thomson, the actress who scored a great success in The Matriarch in London, is the first actress to be granted a pilot's certificate on Dec. 29, 1929.
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Irish aviatrix Lady Mary Bailey at Heston before the 540-mile King's Cup Air Race, July 6, 1929. Bailey was the first ever woman to compete in the race.
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The French aviatrix Vicomtesse Jacques de Sibour on March 1, 1929.
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Marjorie Crawford with her monoplane circa 1929.
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Aviators Baroness Von Schoenberg Kranefeldt and Christel Schultes before the aerial raid between Europe and New York in 1928 in Bavaria, Germany.
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Miss Elinor Smith, 17 years old, waving to the crowd of thousands, just after she landed here after establishing a new women's flight endurance record, 26 hours, 21 minutes, 32 seconds, over four hours better than that of Mrs. McPhetridge of Los Angeles circa 1928.
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Fraulein Marga von Etzdorf, had been awarded the title of Germany's Premier Airwoman circa 1928.
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Amelia Earhart stands June 14, 1928 in front of her bi-plane called 'Friendship' in Newfoundland. Carlene Mendieta, who is trying to recreate Earhart's 1928 record as the first woman to fly across the US and back again, left Rye, NY on September 5, 2001. Earhart (1898 - 1937) disappeared without trace over the Pacific Ocean in her attempt to fly around the world in 1937. (Photo by Getty Images)
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Irish aviator Lady Heath holding a flask of whisky before her attempt to fly at the altitude of 20,000 feet to break a new record in 1928, in Croydon, United Kingdom.
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Australian aviator Jessie 'Chubbie' Miller, sorting out her kit at Croydon Aerodrome, London, before attempting an England-Australia long distance flying record with pilot Bill Lancaster, October 14, 1927.
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Pilot Bessie Coleman, 24, of Chicago, the first female African American aviator in the world, receiving a bouquet from Captain Edison C. McVey in his uniform as Aeronautical Instructor of the U.A.L. at Curtiss Field, Garden City, Long Island on Sep. 4, 1922.
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Miss Laura Bromwell waves from her cockpit after breaking an air record by looping the loop 77 times at Curtis Field on Long Island on Aug. 4, 1922.
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Portrait of Ruth Law Oliver, standing next to an airplane while dressed in the government aviation uniform, early twentieth century. She flew over the Western Front during World War I and was the only woman permitted to wear the uniform for non-military purposes in France circa 1915.
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Blanche S. Scott standing beside an airplane on Sep. 1, 1912.
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Portrait of famous French aviatrix Baroness de la Roche, who was killed when the plane she was flying at Crotoy, France collapsed. This photo of the Baroness was made two weeks ago after she broke the world's record for altitude reached by a woman, formerly held by Ruth Law on July 22, 1919.
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Photo shows Miss Ruth Law as she returned to earth after a spectacular flight at Sheepshead Bay. Back in the years 1914-1916 she was 'tops' in the world of aviation, making notable flights in the United States and Japan on May 21, 1916. She used a Curtiss Bi-Plane equipped with a Wright control system. Ruth was one of the handful of women who helped to write aviation history.
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Marjorie Stinson, the only woman to whom a pilot's license had been granted by Army and Navy Committee of Aeronautics circa 1914-1918. |
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Harriet Quimby sits in the Bleriot XI that she flew across the English Channel on April 16, 1912. Not only was she the first woman to accomplish this task, but in 1911 she had also become the first woman to receive a pilot's licence.
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Elise Deroche, French aviator in 1910.
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Helene Dutrieu, Belgian aviator, circa 1905.
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A woman flier of the barnstorm era. Miss Todd in a double decker crate ready to take off.
This Women’s History Month, remember that we have the power to make history every day. Follow along with HuffPost on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram in March using #WeMakeHerstory.
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