Béatrice Vialle (born 4 August 1961 at

Bourges Bourges ( ; ; ''Borges'' in Berrichon) is a commune in central France on the river Yèvre (Cher), Yèvre. It is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Cher (department), Cher, and also was the capital city of the former provin ...

) is a French

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they a ...

, one of the two operational female

Concorde Concorde () is a retired Anglo-French supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France and the United Kingdom signed a treaty establishin ...

pilots and the first French female pilot on a

supersonic Supersonic speed is the speed of an object that exceeds the speed of sound (Mach 1). For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) at sea level, this speed is approximately . Speeds greater than five times ...

airliner An airliner is a type of airplane for transporting passengers and air cargo. Such aircraft are most often operated by airlines. The modern and most common variant of the airliner is a long, tube shaped, and jet powered aircraft. The largest ...

Biography

Graduating from ''

École nationale de l'aviation civile École nationale de l'aviation civile (; "National School of Civil Aviation"; abbr. ENAC) is one of 205 colleges (as of September 2018) accredited to award engineering degrees in Education in France, France. ENAC is designated as a grande école ...

'' (the French civil aviation university; named as " airline transport pilot student" 1981), she started her career at

Air Littoral Air Littoral was a French regional airline based in Montpellier–Méditerranée Airport that operated from 1972 to 2004. The airline operated domestic services as well as a small amount of regional routes. The airline also operated feeder serv ...

, flying an

Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante The Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante (English: ''pioneer'') is a Brazilian twin-turboprop light transport aircraft designed by Embraer for military and civil use. The EMB 110 was designed by the French engineer Max Holste; it had been designed in ...

. She moved to

Air France Air France (; legally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France, and is headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. The airline is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and is one of the founding members ...

in 1985, where she flew an

Airbus A320 The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, Maiden flight, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first membe ...

and a

Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a long-range wide-body aircraft, wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2023. After the introduction of the Boeing 707, 707 in October 1958, Pan Am ...

before becoming qualified on

, on 24 July 2000.31 mai 2003 Dernière boucle Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle -> Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle
She made her first commercial flight on 19 November 2001 and so became one of the two female Concorde pilots (with the

Briton British people or Britons, also known colloquially as Brits, are the citizens of the United Kingdom, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies.: British nationality law governs modern British citizenship and nationality, w ...

Barbara Harmer) and the first French female pilot on a

. (Frenchwoman

Jacqueline Auriol Jacqueline Marie-Thérèse Suzanne Auriol (; ; 5 November 1917 – 11 February 2000) was a French aviator who set several world speed records. Biography Born in Challans, Vendée, the daughter of a wealthy shipbuilder, Edmond Pierre Douet, sh ...

was the first woman who flew Concorde, but this was as a

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testin ...

.) In total Vialle made 45 supersonic flights

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and 3 trips above the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

. After the end of her Concorde flights (31 May 2003), she became a

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

flying

Boeing 747-400 The Boeing 747-400 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, an advanced variant of the initial Boeing 747. The ''Advanced Series 300'' was announced at the September 1984 Farnborough Airshow, target ...

Bibliography

* Académie nationale de l'air et de l'espace, ''Les français du ciel, dictionnaire historique'', 2005, Le Cherche midi éditeur, 782p., p. 518, ''VIALLE, Béatrice'', * Who's Who in France, 2012, 2307 p., notice « Vialle, Béatrice »,

References

1961 births French aviators École nationale de l'aviation civile alumni Concorde pilots Living people French women aviators Women commercial aviators {{aviation-bio-stub