Remembering aviation trailblazer David E. Harris, the first African-American airliner captain

Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian National Air andamp; Space MuseumFrom flying nuclear-armed aircraft to breaking racial barriers, the aviation world lost a trailblazing pilot this month. David E. Harris, who flew B-52 bombers for the Strategic Air Command for more than six years in the 1950s and 1960s and was the first Black pilot hired at a major U.S. airline, died on March 8, according to numerous national media outlets. He was 89. For three decades Harris flew for American Airlines, becoming the first African-American captain for a US passenger airline in 1967, three years after beginning his civilian career with the company. In 2015, at the age of 80, Harris told South Carolina Living magazine that he encountered few issues with racial issues in the US Air Force after growing up in an integrated community in Columbus, Ohio. However, despite airlines looking to make their rosters more diverse in the 1960s, he told the magazine that he resolved "to do my thing and let the slurs roll off me the best I could" when applying for jobs in the South."Pan Am wouldn't even give me an application," he said in a video posted to YouTube by American Airlines last month. "The prejudice of the country was bad, but it happened to be at a time when things were changing."At American, he said he was welcomed, with his chief pilot telling him: "We don't care if you're blue, white or chartreuse as long as you can fly the airplane." Despite his hat and uniform being on display at the Smithsonian National Air andamp; Space Museum, Harris noted that he was not the only pilot of his era to break racial barriers. At the time he joined American, Tuskegee pilot Perry Young Jr. was already flying commercial helicopters, and August Martin, another Black military pilot, flew commercial freighters. "I was a very lucky guy," Harris told South Carolina Living in 2015. "I just happened to be hired on a timely basis when the industry was really growing fast. I became senior pretty quickly." Harris continued flying well after retirement, operating a Socata Trinidad and mentoring future aviators. "Capt. Harris opened the doors and inspired countless Black pilots to pursue their dreams to fly," said American Airlines CEO Robert Isom.