Our US: as a resident of Magadan emigrated and became a pilot

Only about 5% of commercial pilots in the United States are women. Natasha Shcheglova is one of them. Originally from Magadan, Natasha came to America almost 30 years ago and in a short time was able to fulfill her dream of taking to the skies every day. "Voice of America” tells her American story.

Photo: video frame

For the first time, Natalia found herself in an airplane at the age of 5. She and her mother flew Magadan-Moscow flight. At some point, the child became bored, and the mother let her go to the salon. Somehow she was in the cockpit, which were open at that time. Little Natasha spent some time there, receiving a sea of ​​positive emotions and pleasure. In 5 for years, she had the impression that she, too, would be able to fly a plane.

Natalia came to America with her mother, her sister and cousins ​​in 1988. At that time she was 15 years old. They arrived from Magadan and ended up in Seattle, WA.

Her mother had long wanted to leave the Soviet Union in order to find freedom in everything: in thought, movement, religion. She wanted her daughter to have those opportunities that she herself did not have.

Photo: video frame

Natasha's first feeling after the move was the belief that in America you can build something and achieve something. They quickly found an apartment near the school.

The apartment, as Natalia says, was terrible, so she decided to find a part-time job in order to be able to pay the best option for housing. With 16 years, Natalya combined her studies at school with a part-time job. She worked on the tower at the hippodrome along with a video producer who shot horse races.

In the USSR, girls could not study to become pilots, so Natalya and her mother agreed that she would become a doctor. One day she got into a conversation with one of the TV producers at the racetrack, Can Shepman, and talked about her dream. He not only supported her, but also bought one lesson in “driving” a small plane with an instructor.

Photo: video frame

“When we took to the sky, at the moment of takeoff I realized that this was mine,” recalls Natalya. “I later found out that you can transfer to a flight university, that you can graduate and then work in the sky.”

Natalia still has a relationship with Kan.

Photo: video frame

Natalya took to the skies for the first time with passengers on board in 1990. “This was my first job in a regional company American Airlines, and we flew to the island of Tartola. This is the island of Britain. A very short strip that ended on both sides with the ocean,” recalls Natalya.

After one and a half years of flying, Natalya transferred to Dallas, Texas, in a company American Eagle, "daughter" American Airlines.

The working day of the pilot and Natalya usually begins with a large cup of coffee - and it doesn’t matter whether she has a night or a day flight. After that, she goes through control at the airport, registers the start of work, receives information about the flight with an explanation of where she is flying, why she is flying, what the weather is like, how much fuel. Then he gets on the plane and prepares for departure.

Personal life

In 2010, Natalia married Sergey. In marriage, they lived 6 years. But life together did not work out.

“This is probably not the right person to be a pilot, although we both tried,” says Natalya.

For her, always the closest person was a mother. Despite the fact that her 12 years are dead, she managed to find a second family for Natalia. Everything happened very interesting. When Natalia studied in Dallas, she had no Russian-speaking friends. During the visit, my mother heard Russian in the store and the first one spoke to people. Since then, for Natalia, these people have become the second family.

“We tell everyone that Natasha is our pilot. She is Russian and achieved everything herself. We are very proud and admire her. We tell everyone that this is our second daughter,” says Galina Chichagova.

“I very often hear the question: “Am I scared to fly?” I can answer this way: “If I was afraid to fly, would I force myself to do it every day?” Of course not. I've never been scared since my first flight. It’s not scary to be a passenger and it’s not scary to be a pilot,” says Natalya.

“Everything I have achieved here is because I grew up in America. I very much doubt that I could become a pilot in Russia. It seems to me that this is not entirely realistic and not entirely achievable, even today. I am very happy and glad that my mother came here. This is a special country with many opportunities,” says Natalya.

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