Commending Those With Superpowers

Among other notable accomplishments, we also invented powered flight and have been in the process of perfecting all aspects of it since 1903. Our industry relies on the brilliance, craftsmanship, and vision of more than 11 million people, each with unique skills and abilities.

Having just watched the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, I was astounded by what people can do. The human spirit is indomitable. One would be hard pressed to watch the Paralympics and not be awestruck by what people can accomplish and the tenacity it takes to succeed. 

We all have different abilities and limitations, but for some, overcoming a significant physical or mental challenge is something that far exceeds the realm of what many of us would consider possible. To witness how people conquer adversity is both humbling and inspirational to me.

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM), which seems fitting after the Paralympic Games. One athlete, Matt Stutzman, born without arms, had been unable to find employment in his small Iowa town—until after he competed on a global stage and won a gold medal in archery, a sport that traditionally requires two arms. Now people understand what he is capable of, which I suspect is anything that he sets his mind to accomplish.

You may also be familiar with FLYING contributor Jessica Cox, also born without arms, who has done what many thought might be impossible—pilot an aircraft. Stutzman and Cox are two examples of those whose incredible accomplishments have demonstrated that perhaps people aren’t disabled, some just have unique abilities to harness, and in doing so, shift the paradigm of possibility.

Raising awareness, shifting paradigms, and resetting expectations is what NDEAM is about. And in case you think this is a relatively new 21st century cultural development, it is not.

In 1945, Congress set aside the first week in October as National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week. By the end of World War II, more than 650,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and merchant mariners were wounded, many with permanent physical disabilities, and many more suffered untold psychological wounds. 

Since 1945, our level of awareness and accommodation for people with different abilities has continued to evolve. In 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act became law. In addition to prohibiting discrimination, accommodations became the norm in an endeavor to provide more universal access.

The FAA’s initiative, People with Disabilities Program, is designed to both make the organization a model employer by creating a work environment that provides job opportunities and also makes it easier for people to travel merely by making some basic accommodations. 

Within the GA community there are also organizations that make flying accessible. Able Flight (ableflight.org) is a nonprofit that provides flight training and career training scholarships through an in-residence joint training program at Purdue University. Since 2006, nearly 100 people have earned pilot certificates through Able Flight. 

While flight training in the early 1990s, I would occasionally see a student from the Rochester Institute of Technology’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf getting primary instruction. The CFI would operate the radios to and from Class C airspace for training in Class E and G airspace.

Solo flights also happened at uncontrolled fields near the practice area. Some CFIs communicated with students through sign language, and others used a hand-held white board. There are a few hundred hearing-impaired pilots in the U.S., and deafpilots.org is a great resource supporting that community. 

In many cases, aviation may not feel like the most accommodating thing to pursue for someone with a disability, but it can also be a life-altering experience. So what's the lesson to be learned from strong-willed people who have put their abilities to the test to overcome adversity?

Where there’s a will, there’s probably a way.

This column first appeared in the October Issue 951 of the FLYING print edition.