Cochran, Jacqueline (1910–1980)

US pilot. She was the first woman to pilot a bomber across the Atlantic in World War II. In 1953 she became the first woman to fly faster than sound; in 1964 she flew faster than twice the speed of sound. At her death she held more flight records than any other pilot.

She was born in Pensacola, Florida. An orphan, her first career was as an owner of a profitable cosmetics company. Receiving her pilot's license in 1932, she was the first woman to fly in the Bendix transcontinental race three years later. She won the Bendix Trophy in 1938.