Pilot In Charlotte Plane Crash Was A Sigma Kappa

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One of the pilots involved in the Charlotte plane crash, which happened earlier this month, was a Sigma Kappa.

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Posted on Fri, Jan. 10, 2003

Pilot Leslie always upbeat
Godmother recalls a playful teen and confident woman
ADAM L. CATALDO
Staff Writer

GASTONIA - Marjorie Volk sat on the edge of a couch at work Thursday afternoon holding a picture and trying to describe her goddaughter Katie Leslie, 25, the captain of US Airways Express Flight 5481.

"She was a real down-to-earth person, not impressed with herself or putting on airs," Volk said. "You would find her in the kitchen talking and chatting with her family and maybe playing a game and whipping up a batch of cookies. "

Volk, 58, and her husband, Joe, met Leslie's parents, Keith and Marcy, at church after moving to Arlington, Texas, in 1973. Volk said the families remained close after her husband transferred to Gaston County in 1985.

Leslie's father has called several times since the accident, Volk said, but he has not spoken more than a sentence or two in each call.

Volk described Leslie as upbeat, the third of five children, someone who gave swimming lessons as a teenager during the summer and who was very close to Volk's four children.

Volk and her husband had dinner with Leslie after the pilot moved to Charlotte in June. Volk was curious about the mechanics of an airplane and asked Leslie about flying in bad weather.

"I said, `Is it overwhelming?' and she said no," Volk said, describing Leslie as enthusiastic about her job.

"But calm," Volk added. "And she felt that she knew all she needed to do her job well."

Volk said she last saw Leslie's parents when they visited their daughter in November. Volk and her husband go to Texas today for Leslie's funeral.

Volk said Leslie moved to Charlotte in June after working as a pilot for Mesa Air Group in Little Rock, Ark., and Omaha, Neb. Leslie earned a degree in professional aviation in 1999 from Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, La.

Dale Sistrunk, head of the school's aviation program, said Leslie was a very good student, but not the best in her class.

"She was very dedicated and serious about what she was doing," Sistrunk said, "so she persevered."

Leslie was advancing faster than most as a professional pilot, and probably would have been hired by a major airline in the next few years, he said.

In addition to being in Louisiana Tech's flight club, Leslie was a member of the Sigma Kappa sorority.

Patricia Flournoy, chairwoman of the sorority's advisory board, met the future pilot when Leslie was a pledge in 1995.

"It wasn't like I had to go to a picture book and look her up," Flournoy said. "I knew exactly who she was."

Flournoy said Leslie's love of flying was apparent in presentations she gave to her sorority sisters.

"She was very professional, but there was a lot of excitement in there as well," she said

Flournoy still remembers Leslie's reaction when she offered her an old set of headphones and other pilot equipment her husband was going to throw out.

"Oh, man," she said, "she jumped on that big time."