Elgin Rotary and the woman who's "rarer than a Bengal tiger"
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
As its latest guest speaker Elgin Rotary welcomed a Moray woman who was "rarer than a Bengal tiger".
In the male-dominated world of commercial flights, Captain Emma Henderson was one of less than 500 female pilots across the whole globe.
The Kinloss resident spoke about the challenges she'd faced in balancing her high-flying career with raising three children,
And, in addition, she also talked about founding a charity whose work resulted in her being made an MBE in December 2020.
A rotary spokesperson said: "Emma was inspirational as she gave everyone a whirlwind tour of her life.
"She knew from the age of 10 that she wanted to fly after watching the Space Shuttle Enterprise touchdown at Stansted airport on the back of a Boeing 747.
"Her first time at the controls was in 1991 when she received a flying lesson for her 18th birthday."
Emma can now draw on 30 years of experience in the air an as well as 500 flight hours – a journey that took her to the other side of the world and back.
In 2019 she also became well-known nationally after an ITV broadcast 'Inside the Cockpit', the result of a film crew following her over a six-month period.
The following year Emma, along with countless other airline staff, suddenly found herself on furlough as covid-19 brought the world to a near halt.
Her inventive response was to set up Project Wingman.
The charity's aim was to help both staff from the NHS who were dealing with heavy workloads, as well as cabin crew who had time on their hands and were looking to help.
At its height it had set up makeshift lounges in more than 80 hospitals across the UK, offering the sort of care and attention received by passengers in first class.
View Emma's website HERE
