Gunship
22nd May 2003, 02:32
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An all-woman expedition into Africa quietly made aviation history on Wednesday.
The occasion was the first flight into the continent by a passenger airliner "manned" by women only.
At the controls of the British Airways flight from Johannesburg to Lusaka were Captain Margaret Thornton-Smith, 36, and First Officer Charlotte Greene, 25.
"For us to be assigned to the same flight was only a roster coincidence," said Thornton-Smith as she deftly keep the Boeing 737 on course.
"This has not been planned as gender history thing. Tomorrow, we might be working on different flights again."
The rest of the staff on the aircraft comprised controller Amanda Premanthan and cabin crew Vanessa Mooi, Sharon van Heerden and Caryn Petty.
The two woman pilots, from Johannesburg, had for quite a while been flying internal and regional routes for British Airways' domestic service.
Thornton-Smith said she was given her first command of an aircraft in February 2000, on a Boeing 727.
She qualified as Boeing 737 captain in February, shortly after the airline phased out the Boeing 727.
Thornton-Smith began her commercial flight training on the East Rand in 1990.
Greene obtained a commercial pilot licence in 1998, and qualified as first officer in September 2001.
British Airways spokesperson Madelain Roscher said airliners operated by women was not new when it came to domestic flights.
"But this is the first all-female crew to venture into Africa," she told reporters who were invited along.
Wednesday's two-hour flight also marked a rescheduling of the airline's service on the route between Lusaka and Johannesburg.
Passengers could now arrive in time for tea in Lusaka, with the return flight arriving in Johannesburg by lunchtime, said Roscher.
:ok:
An all-woman expedition into Africa quietly made aviation history on Wednesday.
The occasion was the first flight into the continent by a passenger airliner "manned" by women only.
At the controls of the British Airways flight from Johannesburg to Lusaka were Captain Margaret Thornton-Smith, 36, and First Officer Charlotte Greene, 25.
"For us to be assigned to the same flight was only a roster coincidence," said Thornton-Smith as she deftly keep the Boeing 737 on course.
"This has not been planned as gender history thing. Tomorrow, we might be working on different flights again."
The rest of the staff on the aircraft comprised controller Amanda Premanthan and cabin crew Vanessa Mooi, Sharon van Heerden and Caryn Petty.
The two woman pilots, from Johannesburg, had for quite a while been flying internal and regional routes for British Airways' domestic service.
Thornton-Smith said she was given her first command of an aircraft in February 2000, on a Boeing 727.
She qualified as Boeing 737 captain in February, shortly after the airline phased out the Boeing 727.
Thornton-Smith began her commercial flight training on the East Rand in 1990.
Greene obtained a commercial pilot licence in 1998, and qualified as first officer in September 2001.
British Airways spokesperson Madelain Roscher said airliners operated by women was not new when it came to domestic flights.
"But this is the first all-female crew to venture into Africa," she told reporters who were invited along.
Wednesday's two-hour flight also marked a rescheduling of the airline's service on the route between Lusaka and Johannesburg.
Passengers could now arrive in time for tea in Lusaka, with the return flight arriving in Johannesburg by lunchtime, said Roscher.
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