Beverley Bass

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Beverley Bass
Born
Beverley Bass

(1952-03-27) March 27, 1952 (age 72)
NationalityAmerican
Alma materTexas Christian University
OccupationPilot for American Airlines
Years active1976–2008
SpouseTom Stawicki
Children2

Beverley Bass (born March 27, 1952)

Washington D.C. to Dallas, Texas.[3][4] She and pilot Stephanie Wallach founded the International Society of Women Airline Pilots, which began as a group of women aviators but later changed into a program providing career support and mentorship to aspiring pilots.[3]

Early life

Bass was born and raised in

bachelor's degrees in both subjects in May 1974.[5] Bass cites her aunt, who would park her Volkswagen Beetle by the local airport's chain-link fence so Bass could watch planes takeoff and land, as her inspiration to start flying. Bass's father, fearing losing her interest in the family's quarter horses, refused flying lessons.[5]

Bass started flying the summer after her first year at Texas Christian University, in 1971. She logged her hours at Fort Worth's Meacham Airport, spending six hours there each afternoon.[5] Bass's first professional experience came when a local mortician needed to fly a young woman's body to Arkansas.[5]

Bass's career in commercial aviation began with difficulty, Bass said: "I was told there couldn't be a female pilot flying executives around because what would the wives think".[6]

Diversion to Gander on September 11, 2001

Bass was piloting a

Me and the Sky" is entirely drawn from the real Bass's life story.[12] Bass has developed a close friendship with Jenn Colella, the actress who portrays her in the Broadway company of Come from Away, and frequently travels to see the show.[12][13][14] At the show's closing night in Seattle, Bass presented Colella with the flight jacket, wings, and service pin she was wearing on September 11, to be worn on Broadway.[15]

Honors

In 2019 she was made Brian Kelly's TPG Awards honoree, and it was announced that his company had donated $50,000 to the International Society of Women Airline Pilots in Bass's honor.[3] She was the recipient of the distinguished alumni award from Texas Christian University

Personal life

Bass is married to Tom Stawicki and has two children.[11][12]

Notes

  1. ^ Bonnie Tiburzi in 1973 was the first woman pilot on an American Airlines aircraft

Bibliography

  • Bass, Beverley; Williams, Cynthia (2019). Me and The Sky: Captain Beverley Bass, Pioneering Pilot. Illustrated by Joanie Stone. Alfred A. Knopf. .

References

  1. ^ U.S. Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Vol 2 (Lehi, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), 2010.
  2. ^ Williams, Cynthia A. (March 19, 2016). "Fort Myers native Beverley Bass made aviation history". The News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d O'Kane, Caitlin. "Female pilot honored: Beverley Bass, American Airlines' first female captain, honored at TPG Awards". CBS News. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
  4. ^ "All-female flight crew is aviation first". UPI Archives. United Press International. December 30, 1986. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  5. ^ a b c d Martin, Lisa (Summer 2017). "'Come From Away' Inspiration Beverley Bass Tells Her Story". TCU Magazine. Texas Christian University. Archived from the original on 2019-06-19. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  6. ^ "Meet the real-life 'Come from Away' pilot Beverly Bass". YouTube.
  7. ^ Maxon, Terry (September 10, 2011). "Tales of 9/11: Beverley Bass took a detour to Gander". The Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on March 29, 2019. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  8. ^ Patterson, Thom (September 10, 2021). "Pilots Share Their 9/11 Stories". FLYING Magazine. Retrieved January 5, 2022. I wrestled with the decision whether to jettison fuel that might be precious to me later because I didn't know how many other planes will be in Gander or how much fuel will be available or when I would be leaving.
  9. .
  10. .
  11. ^ a b Bailey, Sue (June 10, 2017). "Meet Beverley Bass: Pilot inspired performance in 'Come From Away'". CTV News. The Canadian Press. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  12. ^ a b c Paulson, Michael (April 16, 2017). "A Pioneering Pilot, A Broadway Show and a Life-Changing Bond". New York Times. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  13. ^ Bass, Beverley; Colella, Jenn; Hassan, Ali (May 22, 2017). The remarkable friendship between a Come From Away cast member and the real-life woman she portrays (Radio). CBC Radio. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  14. ^ Renting, L. Z. (June 15, 2019). Welcome to the Rock: a bachelor thesis on Come From Away in regards to Baudrillard's post 9/11 notion of the static image (Thesis). Supervised by Natascha Veldhorst. Radboud University. Ms. Colella (the actress portraying Beverly Bass, red.) said, 'it's trickier than anything I've ever done'
  15. ^ Williams, Cynthia A. (2016-03-20). "Soaring Life of Beverley Bass". News-Press. Fort Myers, FL. p. E15.