18-year-old Lovell pilot heads to Tennessee for top jet rating

Lovell resident Charlotte Bair is traveling to Tennessee this week to complete a jet type rating, a certification that qualifies a pilot to serve as pilot in command of a specific turbojet aircraft.

At 18 years old, Bair is positioned to become one of the youngest women in the United States to hold this credential. She is also expected to be the youngest pilot in Wyoming with the rating.

Bair earned her private pilot license in the summer between her junior and senior years of high school. She completed her instrument, commercial, and multi-engine ratings before becoming a certified flight instructor in August.

Bair completed her training at Choice Aviation in Cody. Sheena Cichosz, the school’s chief flight instructor, noted that Bair is one of only two or three 18-year-olds to earn a flight instructor certification in Cichosz’s 15 years at the school. Cichosz described Bair as an above-average student who passed every check ride and demonstrated strong safety awareness.

The timing of Bair’s training coincides with a renewed national conversation about female pilots following a fatal crash in Florida. A Learjet crashed in Palm Beach County on Sunday, killing all nine people on board, including 20-year-old first officer Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras.

Bair said the crash hit close to home because Filgueiras followed a similar path to her own, earning her private license at 17. Bair watched video and audio of the incident, noting that Filgueiras clearly declared an emergency and communicated with controllers until the end.

Bair said she felt the online backlash against Filgueiras was a direct hit on young women in the industry. She argued that the crash, which investigators are examining for potential weather and icing factors, is being used to support the idea that women cannot fly.

“It’s sending us back a few generations,” Bair said. “We haven’t passed this whole ‘Girls can’t drive’ and ‘Girls can’t fly' thing yet.”

Bair is currently a freshman at the University of Wyoming studying construction management. She plans to use her flight instructor certificate to conduct required flight reviews for pilots who fly her family’s construction company aircraft.

Her father, Devin Bair, is a private pilot and instrument rated. He said he understands the workload required to achieve her credentials. Her mother, Stacy Bair, who does not fly, said she watches her daughter’s career with awe and considers her a real-life hero.