RCAF Chinook Female Pilot Recognition

Royal Canadian Air Force, July 30, 2019 - By Northern Lights Aero Foundation - Earlier this year, the Northern Lights Aero Foundation announced the 2019 winners of its annual “Elsie” award, honouring Canadian women who have made outstanding contributions to aviation and aerospace.

The foundation’s cause is to attract young women to enter careers in any sector of aviation and aerospace, by recognizing and celebrating the achievements of accomplished women in these fields.

“Our goal is to bring more recognition to women doing incredible work in aviation and aerospace in Canada,” says Joy Parker Blackwood, president of the Northern Lights Aero Foundation. “This year’s winners are all role models for the next generation of women in these industries.”

Named after aviation pioneer and human rights advocate Elsie Gregory MacGill, the award recognizes eight women across seven categories: business, education, engineering, flight operations, government, pioneer and rising star. Among the 2019 award recipients are two members of the Royal Canadian Air Force.

The 2019 gala awards dinner will be held on Saturday, September 28, 2019, at the Sheraton Parkway Hotel and Suites Conference Centre in Richmond Hill, Ontario. The Northern Lights Aero Foundation “Elsie” Awards is in its eleventh year of celebrating women in Canada’s aerospace and aviation industries.

RCAF award recipients - Flight Operations Award

Major Alexia Hannam is a RCAF helicopter pilot and the commanding officer of 417 Combat Support Squadron, based at 4 Wing Cold Lake, Alberta.

She flew the CH-147 Chinook for 40 combat missions in Afghanistan and was the Operation Lentus detachment commander during the Fort McMurray and British Columbia wildfires on CH-146 Griffon search and rescue helicopters.

She is a vocal advocate for the Canadian Armed Forces and women in aviation.