Angela Masson
American aviator and artist
Gayl Angela Masson (born 1951) is an American aviator, inventor, and artist. She flew for American Airlines for over 30 years and was the first woman licensed to fly the Boeing 747 as captain. Masson earned a PhD from the University of Southern California in 1976, specializing in aerospace safety and writing her dissertation on the Air Force's response to women as pilots. She set several speed records for commercial air routes and was the first woman to serve as Chief Pilot for American Airlines.
Masson has taught aeronautics at Jacksonville University and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. She patented the Electronic Kit Bag, the first true electronic flight bag. She is also a painter and a musician, recording the 1982 album Jet Lady under the name Tangela Tricoli.
Early life and education
Gayl Angela Masson was born in 1951 at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles, California. She was the first child of Margo and Jack Masson, a cardiologist and aviator. Masson graduated from Collegio Monte Rosa in Territet.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Angela Masson” as american aviator and artist. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as american aviator and artist. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4762505. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1951, 1976 and 1982.
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This entry incorporates text from “Angela Masson” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.