Capt. Taylor Bye was presented with the 2020 Koren Kolligian Jr. trophy at a Pentagon ceremony, becoming the first female recipient of the award since its creation in 1957.
US Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Briana Beavers
Capt. Taylor Bye skillfully belly landed her A-10 with landing gear up and no cockpit canopy last April.
She was recently awarded the Air Combat Command Airmanship Award for this accomplishment.
At a later date, she will receive the Air Force s coveted Koren Kolligian Jr. Trophy, Insider has learned.
The US Air Force pilot who skillfully belly-landed her plane with the landing gear up and the cockpit canopy ripped off will become the first woman A-10 pilot to receive a coveted aviation award, an Air Force official told Insider.
Capt. Taylor Bye, a 75th Fighter Squadron pilot, pulled off an emergency belly landing in her A-10C Thunderbolt II attack aircraft in April 2020 after an unexplained gun malfunction over Grand Bay Range at Moody Air Force Base in Georgia sent panels and her cockpit canopy soaring and prevented her landing gear from deploying.
Air Force Capt. Taylor Bye s courage and cool in a mid-flight crisis earned her the Air Combat Command’s Airmanship Award in a May 5 ceremony at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia.