April 28, 2021
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As a teenager, Precious Sibalo visited the airport in her Zimbabwe hometown of Bulawayo to watch planes flying in and out of the country’s second-largest city. She was entranced by the aircraft but dismayed by something else.
“I saw male pilots and never saw a woman there. I said to myself, ‘I want to be one of those few women who are pilots,’ ” she said.
She followed through on her goal, earning a license as an airline transport pilot in November. Now, at age 35, Sibalo is among the growing ranks of female pilots in a field still overwhelmingly dominated by men — though Air Zimbabwe, the national airline, marked its first flight with two female captains in 2015.