LOUISVILLE, Ky. — UPS Airlines will fly an all-Black crew during Thunder Over Louisville, for the first time in the air show’s history.
The crew of four spent about an hour in the UPS flight simulator on Thursday to practice the flight path just days before the big event.
Louisville native Jordan Dorsey, a First Officer and co-pilot on the Thunder flight, called it an honor.
“It's been an airshow I've attended every year since I was a little kid,” he said.
He’ll sit beside the flight commander, Captain Norman Seawright Jr., who’s been flying since 1979. Seawright Jr. has mentored Dorsey throughout his career.
“Here's a young man who has expressed an interest in aviation since the time I've known him... for 23 years,” he said. “He’s fulfilled his dream.”
The safety observers, with decades of experience flying combined are Captain Jeff Harrison, and Assistant Chief Pilot Sean Horton. Both hope this flight will inspire kids, especially African Americans, to think about a career in aviation.
“You usually don't see folks like us in this position,” said Harrison, who teaches flight lessons to children as part of a partnership between UPS Airlines and the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals. It’s a program Dorsey was also a part of while he was growing up.
“If we can go out there, fly our show and inspire just a handful of kids to pursue aviation, I consider our mission to be completed,” Horton explained.
The flight path takes the 767 aircraft over Louisville towards Bowman field for both a slow and high speed pass before returning to the runway at the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport.
Horton said the flight is dedicated to “all those UPSers who have done so much especially over this last year when things have been so difficult.”
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