Blind Italian woman Lucia Sabrina Papa logs 200 flight hours, visits Rome Fiumicino tower

A dream from childhood

Lucia Sabrina Papa was born blind because of retinal dystrophy. She grew up near the Fortunato Cesari military airfield in Galatina, in the Lecce area, and as a child ran into the garden whenever she heard aircraft passing overhead. Born in Salice Salentino on 6 May 1970, she moved to Rome at the age of five, studied computing and later worked in IT. Her wish to fly never left her.

Recalling her childhood, she said:

“I wanted to be the plane, not the pilot.”

Learning to fly

In 2016 she began training with help from the Baroni Rotti association and the We-Fly Team. She first flew as a passenger, then took the controls with an instructor who helped her develop a way of feeling the aircraft's attitude and reading its instruments. She has since flown Sky Arrow and Tecnam P-92 ultralights, Cessna 152 and 172 aircraft and the Extra EA-200 aerobatic plane, logging more than 200 hours. The instructor reads out altitude, cruise speed and heading and can intervene at any moment. She has also tried helicopters but prefers aeroplanes.

She described the method they built together:

“We invented a tactile method to understand the attitude of the aircraft and read the instruments. The instructor is always beside me and is my eyes.”

Her status remains that of student pilot. She does not hold a private pilot licence and is not authorised to fly solo, so she never flies alone.

Visit to Rome Fiumicino

On Tuesday, 10 November, Papa visited the control tower at Rome Fiumicino airport, accompanied by the Italian minister for disabilities, Alessandra Locatelli. ENAV, the company that runs Italy's air navigation services, received the group, and its president, Sandro Pappalardo, and tower head Aldo Crisafulli were present. The visit was supported by ANACNA, the national association of air traffic controllers and assistants. Papa saw how controllers monitor and coordinate flights and which technology they use to keep air traffic safe.

Locatelli used the occasion to argue that cultural prejudice can still limit the possibilities of people with disabilities. She said:

“Lucia Sabrina Papa's story is an extraordinary testimony of passion, determination and freedom.”

Book and documentary

Papa's autobiography, Flying into the Invisible, was published in 2024 and covers her relationship with flying and the difficulties she faced along the way. A 2019 documentary by Julia Pietrangeli, Chiudi gli occhi e vola, recounts her experience in France with Les Mirauds Volants, an association of blind pilots that uses audio signals to give flight data. Her account of learning to fly is now available in both book and film form.