Careers: Flying & Aviation/Female Helicopter Pilots

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Expert: - 10/20/2006


Question
I was wondering how many female helicopter pilots there are in the U.S.  I am a helicopter pilot and i just joined Whirly-Girls.  My number is 1422, and thats from a number of women helicopter pilots internationally.  I want to know how many women helo pilots there are in the U.S.

Thanks

Monica

Answer
Monica

This is the closest figure I could find:
A 2004 article from http://www.justhelicopters.com cites, "A check of FAA records reveals that there are 892 active female helicopter pilots in the US."

How they "checked", I don't know. The FAA Administrators Fact Book keeps track of airman statistics, but a breakdown of male vs female pilots is not present in their rotorcraft data, only in fixed wing certificates.

http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/aba/admin_factbook/medi...

Even the Women In Aviation International Resources page, http://www.wai.org/resources/facts.cfm ,  doesn't have a breakdown.

Of course, those are civilian numbers quoted in the article. There are many in the U.S. armed forces as well. However, they are not accounted for in FAA statistics as they have military, not FAA, airman certification. (Another internet article I found puts the numbers of female military rotorcraft pilots at about 450 back in 1994.)

One of my best friends is WG #1279. You two are certainly in a small club.  

Careers: Flying & Aviation

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Volunteer

D. Norkus

Expertise

I can address questions about airline pilot employment & entry level airline careers in the United States, women pilots, flight training, pilot certification, U.S. flight scholarships (mostly for women), aviation & airline safety topics, aviation accident investigation and airline operations. ***Please note, I cannot address flight training & career queries from outside the United States, or aero engineering degree programs/careers, aviation management topics. ****

Experience

Airline captain with 15 years past experience in airline ground operations. I have previously flown as a commercial skydive pilot & ferry pilot and majored in Aviation Science


Organizations
International Organization of Women Pilots- The Ninety-Nines, charter member of Women In Aviation International, Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association, Air Line Pilots Association.

Education/Credentials
Embry Riddle Aeronautical University; Aviation Safety/Accident investigation.

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