I CAME to know about Evelyn Johnson from the recent Time magazine. She was a female pilot and flight instructor. I am sure many interested readers may want to know about this remarkable lady, who at the ripe age of 92 years, was the world’s oldest flight instructor. She died on May 10, aged 102 years.
She holds the world record for training over 5,000 pilots and logged over 57,600 hours of flying, the highest for a woman and the second highest in  history, covering more than 8.8 million kilometres.
Popularly known as Mama Bird she flew even after having glaucoma. She quit flying in 2006 because of an unfortunate car accident that led to amputation of one of her legs.
Even then, she could not forego the environment of flying and managed a local airport. She was a religious soul and once said: ‘I have flown so long, because God has been so kind to let me fly.’
SA Mansoor
Dhaka