{"id":78413,"date":"2025-01-15T10:27:16","date_gmt":"2025-01-15T04:57:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/?p=78413"},"modified":"2025-01-15T10:27:23","modified_gmt":"2025-01-15T04:57:23","slug":"helen-keller-fly-a-plane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/15\/helen-keller-fly-a-plane\/","title":{"rendered":"Did Helen Keller Fly A Plane? | Reality Check\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What\u2019s the one thing Pilots <\/a>absolutely need to fly a plane? Perfect eyesight, sharp hearing, and a license, right? Well, Helen Keller had none of those things\u2014and still managed to take control of an airplane in 1946. Talk about giving gravity a reality check!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Picture this: a blind and deaf woman gripping the controls of a roaring aircraft, while the Pilot nervously side-eyes her like, \u201cWhat have I gotten myself into?\u201d<\/em> But Helen? Cool as a cucumber! She wasn\u2019t there to meet expectations\u2014she was there to break them. How did she pull it off, and what was going through her mind as she defied every aviation manual ever written? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s strap in and explore the day Helen Keller traded her \u201cwalking cane\u201d for a \u201ccockpit\u201d. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Washington
Photo: Wally Gobetz | Flickr<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Can a Blind and Visually Impaired Person Fly?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Flying is an essentially vision-based task that necessitates excellent hand-eye coordination. In the United States, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) demands eye exams, both in clarity and color, whenever a pilot requests to renew his or her medical certificate. The FAA vision standard is 20\/40 in each eye, corrected or uncorrected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Surprisingly, the FAA has guidelines on monocular vision, which allows a Pilot with one eye to fly after successfully correcting for restrictions imposed by one eye’s vision, such as depth perception while maintaining aviation safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, can a blind person fly? The answer is Yes and No!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

No, as a certificated pilot, whether privately or commercially. As previously stated, vision must be 20\/40 or better, corrected or uncorrected, in order to obtain a medical certificate, which is a mandatory accompanying document for any pilot certificate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, a blind person can fly a plane with the guidance of a flying instructor. There have been a few instances where a blind person has successfully flown and landed a plane with the instructor providing airspeed and other safety information. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Certification for the blind is not possible. However, this does not mean that visually challenged people cannot fly. They just can’t acquire their certificates.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

What about a hearing-impaired person?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Although the certificate is limited to “Not Valid for Flights Requiring the Use of Radio” (14 CFR section 61.13), a hearing-impaired person can obtain a student, recreational, or private pilot certificate in any of the five aircraft categories: airplane, rotorcraft, glider, powered-lift, and lighter-than-air aircraft. Essentially, as long as communication with ATC is not required, they are free to proceed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, in order to meet Part 61 standards and qualify for the check ride, student pilots must complete 3 takeoffs and landings at a towered airport. To navigate this, the student and instructor can establish prior arrangements with the tower, allowing a controller to use light signals instead of vocal communication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Helen
Photo: Library of America<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Who was Helen Keller?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Helen Adamas Keller, born on June 27th, 1880, lost her sight and hearing abilities when she was under 20 months old due to an untreated sickness. Despite this early difficulty, Keller learned the language through reading and writing in school, attending both specialist and public mainstream schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, she graduated from Radcliffe College at Harvard University, becoming the first deafblind student in the United States to achieve a Bachelor of Arts degree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keller worked for the American Foundation for the Blind from 1924 to 1968, and she frequently flew while touring the United States and visiting at least 35 countries across the world. She eventually became a worldwide advocate for women with disabilities, their labor rights, and world peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keller was also a well-known author, having written several dozen books, hundreds of essays, and speeches on a variety of subjects.  In addition, Keller was constantly eager to try new adventurous activities, such as diving and sledding down snow slopes. Then there’s the perplexing story that she ever flew an airplane!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"did
Photo: Library of Congress, Washington D.C. (Mavis identifier: 93858)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

How did Helen Keller fly a Plane?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In June 1946, an airplane flew from Rome to Paris<\/a>, crossing the Mediterranean Sea. There was nothing extraordinary about this trip except for the fact that one of its passengers served as a pilot for 20 minutes. The passenger was Dr. Helen Keller!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Initial Flights<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This wasn’t Keller’s first flight. Her first journey as a passenger occurred in 1919 on the set of Deliverance, a biographical film about her life in which she starred. According to the creators of Deliverance, they wanted “to show her doing all those things that [able-bodied] people do,” including “scenes in which she dresses herself, just to show the public that she can, and in which she sleeps, to prove to the curious that she closes her eyes.” And since the airplane, which was still a new invention at the time, was so popular, the creators decided to portray Keller flying as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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