Woman with no arms becomes pilot
A woman born with no arms has become the first person to qualify as a pilot ... by using her feet.
Jessica Cox has never been one to let her lack of limbs get in her way and
can type 20-words-per-minute, put her contact lenses in, and even drive using her feet.
As the 25-year-old also holds a black belt in Taekwondo when she said she wanted to learn to fly, no one was going to tell her she couldn't
After overcoming a fear of flying Jessica took a series of lessons in a rudderless light Ercoupe aircraft and built up 89 flight hours and passed the test.
"I was a little nervous at first" she said, imagine how the instructor felt that first time.
Explaining how she uses her feet to control the plane she added: "I have my right foot in the yoke and my left foot on the throttle and I am using my big toe to push on the push to talk switch. I feel perfectly safe"
When Jessica was born with the genetic defect her mother was worried she wouldn't be able to do all the things she needed.
"But I just learned to do stuff with my feet that other kids did with their hands," said Jessica.
Link:
Jessica Cox - Rightfooted
A woman born with no arms has become the first person to qualify as a pilot ... by using her feet.
Jessica Cox has never been one to let her lack of limbs get in her way and can type 20-words-per-minute, put her contact lenses in, and even drive using her feet.
As the 25-year-old also holds a black belt in Taekwondo when she said she wanted to learn to fly, no one was going to tell her she couldn't
After overcoming a fear of flying Jessica took a series of lessons in a rudderless light Ercoupe aircraft and built up 89 flight hours and passed the test.
"I was a little nervous at first" she said, imagine how the instructor felt that first time.
Explaining how she uses her feet to control the plane she added: "I have my right foot in the yoke and my left foot on the throttle and I am using my big toe to push on the push to talk switch. I feel perfectly safe"
When Jessica was born with the genetic defect her mother was worried she wouldn't be able to do all the things she needed.
"But I just learned to do stuff with my feet that other kids did with their hands," said Jessica.
Link:
Jessica Cox - Rightfooted
