Sabiha Gökçen, born Ćorović on 22 March 1913 and died on 22 March 2001, was a Turkish aviator. The source credits her with around 8,000 flying hours and participation in 32 different military operations. She is described as the world's first female fighter pilot, having reached that status at the age of 23, and the source says she was recognized as the first female combat pilot by The Guinness Book of World Records. As an orphan she was one of the nine children adopted by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. She was chosen as the only female pilot on the poster of The 20 Greatest Aviators in History published by the United States Air Force in 1996, and Sabiha Gökçen International Airport, the second airport of Istanbul, bears her name. The source lead also notes an ancestry controversy in Turkey connected to the assassination of Hrant Dink, and it says nothing further about her aircraft or training.
Facts
FAQs
Why is Sabiha Gökçen called the world's first woman combat pilot?
She took part in the 1937 Dersim military operations as a combat pilot.
The title comes from her part in a 1937 military operation. In that year she took part in military operations during the Dersim massacre, which made her the first Turkish female air force combat pilot and, by the account of her biography, the world's first woman combat pilot. The same account says that during those operations she bombed civilians and killed survivors with machine guns, so the title is tied to a campaign in which civilians were attacked.
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Nationality
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Source Sabiha Gökçen (Wikipedia)Lead paragraph [nationality]Quote, Lead paragraph [nationality]
was a Turkish aviator
Sources
1. Sabiha Gökçen (Wikipedia)
Lead paragraph
born Ćorović; 22 March 1913
Lead paragraph [death-year]
22 March 2001
Lead paragraph [nationality]
was a Turkish aviator
In Group: Women Pioneers of Flight, Lead sentence
Sabiha Gökçen (Turkish: [sabiˈha ɟøcˈtʃɛn], born Ćorović; 22 March 1913-22 March 2001) was a Turkish aviator.
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