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In New Mexico, a blind woman landed safely at College Park Airport in Maryland. This week she flew Cessna halfway across the country.
A woman by the name of Kaiya Armstrong can only see a few inches in front of her face, but that didn’t slow her down from flying a plane from New Mexico across the U.S. to D.C. with a final stopover in Kentucky. She would receive audio cues from her co-pilot and flight instructor during her route. However, due to the weather, Kaiya arrived a day early in D.C. to commemorate World Sight Day.
Armstrong lost her sight at the age of 14. She struggled in her early years until she became involved with the Foundation for Blind Children. Through the foundation, she was helped with learning how to navigate her life without her sight. When the opportunity to learn how to fly was offered, she jumped on the opportunity, even though she’d never been on an airplane.
In March, she was picked from a competitive group of students. Before this opportunity, she had previously believed this was one of several things she’d never be able to do.
She enrolled in months-long intensive flight instruction and was trained with Leopard Aviation. They paired her with instructor Tyler Sinclair, who provided her with all the intricacies of the cockpit and co-piloted her epic journey.
The skies above are “peaceful,” Armstrong said. Her limited sight is best described as “tunnel vision,” she explained.
Even though Armstrong had limited sight, she could see some parts of the landscape below her.
“It’s just so interesting what you can see, when you can’t see,” she said.
Her message to others is not to accept limits placed on you by others or yourself.
Source: Jalopnik