The first female pilot to fly solo around the world has died. Geraldine "Jerrie" Mock was 88.
Mock's grandson, Chris Flocken, said today that she died at her home in Quincy, Florida, on yesterday after being in failing health for months.
Mock flew her single-engine Cessna 180 "Spirit of Columbus" 23,000 miles (37,000 kilometres) in 29-plus days before landing in Ohio's capital city on April 17, 1964.
On her trip, she made stops in Casablanca, Cairo and Calcutta. Dubbed "the flying housewife" at the time, the native of Newark, Ohio, was a suburban mother of three but also an experienced pilot who studied aeronautical engineering at Ohio State University.
A life-sized statue of Mock was unveiled in April at Port Columbus airport.
