Texas native leads historic first all-female flyover at Super Bowl
It wasn’t just Mahomes representing Texas Tech
Feb. 13, 2023Updated: Feb. 13, 2023 9:59 a.m.
US Navy pilots perform a flyover before Super Bowl LVII between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles at State Farm Stadium on February 12, 2023 in Glendale, Arizona.
Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Former Texas Tech quarterback and now Super Bowl LVII champion Patrick Mahomes wasn’t the only one representing the Red Raiders on Sunday, February 12. Texas Tech alumna and Abilene native Lieutenant Arielle Ash led the first-ever all-female flyover at the Super Bowl.
Kent Hans, former chancellor of Texas Tech, congratulated Ash on Twitter, writing “TTU is proud of Arielle leading the air show while Mahomes leads the field.” The U.S. Navy flyover was piloted by seven women to commemorate 50 years since women were allowed to become U.S. Navy pilots. The formation included two F/A-18F Super Hornets, one F-35C Lightning II, and one EA-18G Growler.
Ash graduated from Wylie High School in Abilene and then went on to graduate from Texas Tech in 2012, according to the Abilene Reporter-News.
The all-female team of pilots who flew in the annual pregame flyover commemorating 50 years of women flying in the US Navy, pose during Super Bowl LVII between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on February 12, 2023.
TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images
“I love flying jets with my friends,” Ash said in a release from the Navy. “I learned that hard work, initiative, and determination will get you far. You can be the best person on a team, but the best leaders and team players are the ones who use their actions to speak for themselves.”
It wasn’t until 1973 that eight women were the first allowed to enter flight school, according to CBS News. Six of them earned their wings. About a year after graduating, Rosemary Mariner became the first woman assigned to pilot a U.S. Navy fighter. Now, women make up about 15% of naval aviators.
“It’s definitely a huge honor to be asked to do this and to celebrate those women that have paved this way for all of us,” Ash told CBS News.
