As Crazy as it Might Sound

I settled in the window seat, determined to enjoy a flight for once. I now had critical information about the sounds of an aircraft in motion and I was going to use that knowledge to help me relax. I leaned back, picked up a magazine and started reading. And then I heard an unusual sound, the sound of a female voice coming from the cockpit — our first officer, welcoming passengers on board. This was a first.

A flight across the Atlantic with uncomfortable distractions can be additionally tough for someone whose imagination runs amok at 38,000 feet! And then there is the sense of hearing. MY sense of hearing. On board an aircraft, I hear EVERY sound. Every ding, buzz, whir, crank, bang, creak or beep. At the gate, during taxiing, at takeoff, during the flight, during the descent.

The wonderful opportunity to understand them had come in the form of my own cousin in London, an experienced international pilot. He went to lengths to explain and reassure me that the myriad of sounds one hears onboard an aircraft were completely normal. Aircraft make various noises as different parts of equipment move to increase or decrease aerodynamic forces. Crazy as they might sound, there was nothing to worry about! He also dispelled every myth I'd had about turbulence.

So, as crazy as it might sound, I felt a stir of unfounded anxiety rising in my chest when I realised the pilot responsible for our aircraft was a lady. Why should that matter?

Female pilots are certainly rare. Despite significant contributions made by women to the field of aviation, data indicates that just 6% of airline pilots are women! Being a woman in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) myself, I know firsthand what women in STEM — indeed women in general — are capable of. I have two very capable daughters that I encourage daily to reach for the skies.

In 2018, Tammie Jo Shults was in the cockpit of a crippled Southwest Airlines plane after a blown engine sent shrapnel through a window mid-flight. As chaos broke out, Ms. Shults coolly and safely landed that aircraft.

My flight from London to Washington Dulles was smooth, without any significant turbulence. I simply sat there contemplating my thoughts, and had many opportunities to tell myself to just calm down!