They had their feet on the ground, but their dreams in the clouds. It was a day for girls to learn about everything aviation, and the careers that it offers. “Well I never thought about it before, but now it sounds like really fun,” said Aamna Shaban, a student at Stoney Creek Public School in London. She was among those taking part in Girls Aviation Day at London International Airport on Tuesday. “I’ve learned a lot about how planes and drones work, things like that,” added Aamna’s friend and classmate Prapti Gaukm. “I’ve learned that there’s a lot of women that work in STEM.” The third annual event welcomed more than 1,000 girls from Grades six to eight from five area school boards. “We know that they’re under-represented,” said Laura Briscoe, VP Great Lakes Aviators Canada Chapter of Women in Aviation International, one of the hosts for the event. “And many times when we think of aviation we think of pilots, but we don’t know of all the other careers and opportunities. So we want them to be able to visit the industry partners, build relationships, and have those memorable experiences, that they know that there’s a place for them in the future.” The event was also an opportunity for girls to get up close to aircrafts and engage with interactive stations led by female professionals and students in the field. Calaya Corneli, a student at London, Ont.-based International Test Pilot School, explained that her job is to test-fly new planes. “They need a test pilot and flight test engineer to fly the plane for the very first time. So at International Test Pilot School we’re taught how to do that, we’re taught how to risk mitigate. We’re taught what flights to do, what maneuvers to fly, how fast, how high,” said Corneli. The event was co-hosted by aviation programs at both Fanshawe College and Western University. Milla Mason, the president of Western Women in Aviation, said she wants girls to know they can fly high, if they want to. “How many times do you fly on a commercial airline and see a female as your captain, or even as a first officer. And it’s hard to want to do this when you never see it. So I want to encourage them and show them that they can do it to,” she said.
