Alice Écalle Memorial Scholarship
Donation protected
In October 2010, Alice Écalle (age 34), her husband Renaud (age 29), and their children, Adrien (age 3) and Louise (age 1), were flying home in their small plane in southern France when it crashed in torrential rain, fog, and 50 mph gusts of wind, tragically killing all four.
Renaud was a French air force captain and the reigning world aerobatic champion, and his legacy was extensively covered by the press. Though often mentioned only briefly as his wife in the press coverage of their deaths, Alice was an accomplished and ambitious pilot herself in a field dominated by men. Her dream was to join a commercial airline, but she was rejected for having young children. Back then, airline interviewers in her country openly expressed the view that women could not be both mothers and pilots.
Her untimely death and unfinished goal inspired her younger brother, Ted, to pursue a career in aviation. Using the same textbooks she studied for her own license, he began the long, expensive, and challenging path toward becoming a commercial pilot. He finally accomplished his big sister's dream in 2018 when he joined SkyWest Airlines.
Recognizing that the future of flight is female, commercial airlines worldwide have progressed significantly in updating their outdated hiring practices. Still, many disproportionate barriers stand in the way for mothers in aviation. One enormous barrier is money. The Alice Écalle Memorial Scholarship aims to alleviate a small portion of the heavy financial burden, which scholarship recipients are already incurring in their training. The cost of flight training has traditionally kept many would-be pilots out of the industry, especially minority groups like women providing for their families.
In honor of the ten year anniversary of Alice's passing this year, we are campaigning to raise $10,000 through October 2020 to continue providing support for mothers in commercial aviation through the pandemic. Our candidates have already reached important milestones and need help reaching their next one. Our scholarship is the only one in the commercial aviation industry specifically for moms. We also provide mentorship and guidance for our scholarship recipients to ensure their success, now and in the future.
Women only account for 5% of professional pilots around the world. This must change. We strongly believe that having more mothers in the commercial aviation workforce will create the positive impact necessary to open the industry to more women in general. Having more mothers piloting our planes and commanding our flight crews will also improve the experience of all moms who fly, whether in the cabin or in the cockpit.
With the support of family and friends like you, we are able to honor the legacy of an ambitious, charismatic, and barrier-breaking mother and pilot by helping more women like her pursue their dreams. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for your interest and generosity in honoring Alice’s life.
To learn more, visit our website at rememberingalice.com.
Renaud was a French air force captain and the reigning world aerobatic champion, and his legacy was extensively covered by the press. Though often mentioned only briefly as his wife in the press coverage of their deaths, Alice was an accomplished and ambitious pilot herself in a field dominated by men. Her dream was to join a commercial airline, but she was rejected for having young children. Back then, airline interviewers in her country openly expressed the view that women could not be both mothers and pilots.
Her untimely death and unfinished goal inspired her younger brother, Ted, to pursue a career in aviation. Using the same textbooks she studied for her own license, he began the long, expensive, and challenging path toward becoming a commercial pilot. He finally accomplished his big sister's dream in 2018 when he joined SkyWest Airlines.
Recognizing that the future of flight is female, commercial airlines worldwide have progressed significantly in updating their outdated hiring practices. Still, many disproportionate barriers stand in the way for mothers in aviation. One enormous barrier is money. The Alice Écalle Memorial Scholarship aims to alleviate a small portion of the heavy financial burden, which scholarship recipients are already incurring in their training. The cost of flight training has traditionally kept many would-be pilots out of the industry, especially minority groups like women providing for their families.
In honor of the ten year anniversary of Alice's passing this year, we are campaigning to raise $10,000 through October 2020 to continue providing support for mothers in commercial aviation through the pandemic. Our candidates have already reached important milestones and need help reaching their next one. Our scholarship is the only one in the commercial aviation industry specifically for moms. We also provide mentorship and guidance for our scholarship recipients to ensure their success, now and in the future.
Women only account for 5% of professional pilots around the world. This must change. We strongly believe that having more mothers in the commercial aviation workforce will create the positive impact necessary to open the industry to more women in general. Having more mothers piloting our planes and commanding our flight crews will also improve the experience of all moms who fly, whether in the cabin or in the cockpit.
With the support of family and friends like you, we are able to honor the legacy of an ambitious, charismatic, and barrier-breaking mother and pilot by helping more women like her pursue their dreams. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for your interest and generosity in honoring Alice’s life.
To learn more, visit our website at rememberingalice.com.
Co-organizers (2)
Patricia Lee
Organizer
Pacifica, CA
Ted Brennan
Co-organizer