Foy shares her experiences with Vietnam’s future female pilots.

The ATR-72 is like a giant iron bird that whooshes across the sky. Wearing a crisp, pressed uniform with her hair tied back in a ponytail, a slender 36-year-old woman sits in the plane’s chief pilot’s seat. Five minutes is all she needs for the perfect take-off as the plane approaches a speed of 200 km per second.

This is Veronica Foy, chief pilot for Vietnam Airlines. She is also sometimes known as the small rose in the sky.

Her co-pilot, Ha Vinh Thanh, comments, “When the weather is bad, our aircrew has to struggle with the dangers. It challenges the braveness, sensitivity and, most of all, the accuracy of pilots. In this moment, all decisions are in the hands of the chief pilot.”

Thanh was also Foy’s co-pilot in her early days at Vietnam Airlines. They flew together out of small airports in places known for their unpredictable weather, like Dien Bien, Cam Ranh, Phu Quoc, Rach Gia, Buon Ma Thuot and Hue, as well as large airports characterized by high flight densities – on average, one every three minutes – in Hanoi and HCM City.

“There were several times when we were about to land and, suddenly, heavy rains started to fall, so pilot Foy decided to circle the airport again to let the rain slow,” related Thanh.

“I was nervous the first time I entered the Vietnam Airlines headquarters,” Foy said smilingly. Not anymore. Every week, she performs an average of five to seven flights. On some days, she’ll make two or three hops.

“The aircraft is my second home. The flight schedule at the end of the year is busy but also interesting, especially because you can go from Tan Son Nhat Airport in HCM, where it’s summer, to Da Nang Airport, where it is autumn, to Noi Bai Airport in Hanoi, where winter has set in,” said Foy.

In her free time, Foy loves to wander the streets and the markets and look for bargains, though she can speak only a little Vietnamese. She also likes to cook at her small rented house on Nguyen Kiem Street, Go Vap District, HCM City.

A graduate of the Malawi National Airways’ Pilot Training School, Foy worked as a co-pilot for nearly four years, before earning a promotion. She has flown over most of the countries in Europe and Asia, and with more than 3,500 hours spent in the sky, she has experience that is rare for a female pilot. But, she expects that to change.

In 2002, Foy signed a contract with Vietnam Airlines. “I remember once piloting a flight in South Africa with an all female aircrew. It made me proud. I hope to be able to do the same thing in Vietnam,” Foy said with a smile.

(Source: Tuoi Tre)