Press Release:

Elaine Roberts, President & CEO of the Columbus Regional Airport Authority, issues statement on the death of Jerrie Mock, the first woman to fly solo around the world “Today the world has lost a woman who truly embodied the spirit of Columbus,” said Elaine Roberts, President & CEO of the Columbus Regional Airport Authority, which operates Port Columbus International Airport.

“Jerrie’s dream of becoming a pilot took flight when she was a young girl and at the age of 38 she became the first woman to fly solo around the world. Her legacy of dedication, perseverance and belief in oneself will forever inspire a community and a nation,” said Roberts. “On behalf of the entire aviation community, I extend my deepest condolences to the Mock family for the loss of this American icon.”

Background information on Jerrie Mock and her accomplishments:

The “Spirit of Columbus,” a tiny, single-engine Cessna 180 custom-fitted with giant fuel tanks, lifted off from Port Columbus International Airport on March 19, 1964. Geraldine “Jerrie” Mock, was a 38-year-old mother of three when she embarked on her voyage. One newspaper described her as “a green-eyed Ohio housewife in open-toed shoes.”

On April 17, 1964, Jerrie Mock landed at Port Columbus to become the first woman to fly solo around the world. She accomplished the record in 29 days with 21 stops, among them the Azores, Libya, Pakistan, and the Philippines. When she landed in Saudi Arabia, she was greeted by a new king, a coup having just taken place. Her hazardous route included a 1,334-mile Pacific trek with no guidance beacons and a balky compass.

A news wire report filed within minutes of her historic April touchdown quoted her as saying: “I hope … that somewhere here and there, just my doing something that hadn’t been done, will encourage someone else who wants to do something very much, and hasn’t quite had the heart to try it.”

On May 4, 1964, Ms. Mock received the FAA Gold Medal for Exceptional Service from President Lyndon B. Johnson in a White House Rose Garden ceremony. Her plane hangs in the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia, a companion facility to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. Ms. Mock’s flight, President Johnson said, demonstrated “the promise of our system” and showed what women can do when “given the opportunity to fully utilize their talents and energies in meeting the great challenges of our day.”

About the Jerrie Mock statue at Port Columbus:

A life-size bronze statue of Jerrie Mock was created by Columbus artist Renate Burgyan Fackler. Funding for the statue came from the Jerrie Mock Pilot Club Fund of The Columbus Foundation.

Established in 2013 with generous gifts from the William H. Davis, Dorothy M. Davis and William C. Davis Foundation and the Genevieve Eckert Fund of The Columbus Foundation, the Jerrie Mock Pilot Club Fund also received significant support from the Pilot Club of Columbus, of which Jerrie had been a long-standing honorary member. Individual club members also contributed to the effort, along with many other friends and admirers of Jerrie Mock.

The statue was dedicated on April 17, 2014, as part of a celebration at Port Columbus commemorating the 50th anniversary of Jerrie Mock’s accomplishment. Once the Port Columbus terminal modernization project is completed, the statue will be placed in the ticket lobby as part of the newly designed Legacy of Leadership, which traces the history of Port Columbus.