“Piloting the impossible” is a phrase that sums up your career well: how did you manage to become a professional pilot?
“I always wanted to be a pilot and I had been flying since the age of 15. A dream that could have been shattered by this plane accident which left me stuck in a wheelchair at 16. But I didn’t never gave up on my dream, despite my severe handicap. However, to pilot, especially more than thirty years ago, legs were essential. Everyone told me that I would never be able to pilot again. no solution. The first obstacle is this. Overcoming this obstacle of the impossible and finding the strength to seek the solution. At that time, there was no internet. aerial, I asked people questions, but without finding answers. The important thing is to get started. I was waiting for Grace and one day Grace arrived: I ended up finding the solution. , when I came across an article that talked about manually operated planes. It was a revelation. It took me four years. But it was only the beginning of the journey.
Exactly, what path of resilience did you follow to get back on board a plane after the trauma of the accident?
Of course, after the accident there was fear. There was anger, sadness. I welcomed these feelings, legitimate, necessary, in order to overcome them. I knew that if I let myself get carried away by my emotions, I would collapse and I wouldn’t get back up. I never blamed the pilot for having me stuck in a chair, we all make mistakes. I never blamed my father for passing on this passion for aviation to me. I never blamed the whole world. I understood that I had to use this anger to move forward. I took my responsibilities to make something of this ordeal. It was easier to rebuild my dream than to fail, so I decided to pursue my dream. The person who supports us best is ourselves. So, I decided to take charge of my life. That’s what being a pilot is all about.
So you were able to board a manually operated plane: what adventures were you ready to experience then?
Adventure doesn’t necessarily mean going to the ends of the earth. Adventure can await us just outside our home. It can also be an inner adventure. Thanks to this accident, I experienced a rich human adventure in the small flying club near my home. It made me grow, enriched me, allowed me to keep a positive outlook on life. And about the fight that I had decided to lead: to change the law to allow disabled people to become professional pilots. At that time, we were not welcome in the airline world.
How did you achieve this?
I wanted to be a professional pilot and I understood that to achieve that, I had to take people with me. Notably Brigitte Revellin-Falcoz, who was one of the first women to become an airline pilot and captain, and not without difficulty. With it, and others, we obtained in 2003 that people with lower limb disabilities could, with an adapted cockpit, carry out aerial work, such as transporting cargo, monitoring forest fires, etc. We are around ten disabled professional pilots in France among around fifty pilots with disabilities.
Changing the law is a great victory…
What is beautiful about our story is that it is meaningful. If a disabled person has managed to achieve their goal and become a pilot, this means that any company can integrate a disabled person by adapting their workstation. And then, an accident can happen to anyone. It actually happened: a few years ago, an airline pilot had a skiing accident and had to have his foot amputated. Thanks to the law we passed, he was able to continue his profession. Before, he would have been condemned to retrain on the ground. When, despite adversity, you manage to make change, you can tell yourself that your life has not been in vain. Better: that you have succeeded in your life.
What dreams are you currently pursuing?
I want to become a commentator for major aviation events in order to pass on this passion for aviation to young people. And then, take a non-stop trip around the world in a solar airship, that is to say a balloon that moves using the energy of the sun. This meets the expectations of younger generations who are concerned about preserving the planet. Traveling without CO2 emissions, giving up fossil fuels, it’s possible. This is what I want to demonstrate because we will always need to travel. For the moment, it is only one project, called “Solar Airship One”, which has already received the support of two major sponsors, but whose project leader is looking for additional financial support. They came to me to pilot the airship and I dream of this project becoming a reality, but for now, it’s not yet tomorrow.”
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