Richey, Helen, 1909-1947

Helen Richey, born on 12 Nov. 1909 in McKeesport, Pa., began her flying career as a teenager out of high school. In 1929 she became the first licensed female pilot in Allegheny County. In Aug. 1932, Richey and Frances Marsalis set a new women's endurance record when the pair stayed aloft for almost ten days. In May 1934, Richey won the main race at the first National Air Meet for Women in Dayton. Richey was the first female pilot to be hired to fly by a commercial scheduled passenger carrier on 13 Dec. 1934 with Central Airlines. Although she won the job after competing with eight men, the Airline Pilots Association and the Dept. of Commerce, in a case of gross sex discrimination, forced her out. She resigned in Nov. 1935. Her resignation triggered a noisy battle over women's rights. Women were not to become airline pilots again until 1973. In 1936, Richey, with Amelia Earhart, came in fifth place in the Bendix Trophy Race from New York City to Los Angeles, and, by doing so bested several male pilots. She was an air-marking pilot for the Bureau of Air Transport and set two world records for light planes. Later, she became the first woman to be licensed as a flight instructor by the CAA. Richey was a member of both the WASPs and the Ninety-Nines. She died at age thirty-seven on 7 Jan. 1947.