'Kind of an accident': How Evie Sapp's dreams of flight turned into reality

RICHMOND, Ky. (FOX 56) — What started as a pipe dream has quickly become a reality for a young female pilot, Evie Sapp, who said this journey started because she wanted to travel the world.

“It’s kind of an accident. Before I knew I really wanted to do getting out of high school. I wanted to originally be a flight attendant. Like absolutely nothing about flying. So, it was completely new for me. I feel like starting out, it just helps seeing other people do it, especially if you do absolutely nothing about it,” Sapp said.

Sapp said that during her senior year of high school, the school required her to speak to the counselors about her future plans. She said her counselor misunderstood her and thought she said “flight training.”

“In the process of kind of getting into that, I just kind of discovered someone that knew about flying, which I had never really thought about before. And so, I ended up
doing a discovery flight in Danville. And then after that discovery flight, I knew that it was something I really wanted to do,” Sapp added. “And so, after the discovery flight, I was eligible,
Eligible to do a scholarship that they offered there to get from 0 hours to solo. And so, I got applied for that and I got in. And then from there, it sort of started.”

She started flying at age 18 and now, at just 20 years old, Sapp has her private pilot’s license. But flying into uncharted territory hasn’t been easy.

“I was fine at first because I had my instructor next to me, but then once he got out, I was freaking out. But the nerves are starting to really hit because, obviously, when you’re flying a thousand feet up in the air, there’s little room for error. So, the pilot there certifying how to do two full stops and had a taxi back to take off every time is actually three,” Sapp recalled. “And I remember when I finally, like, finished landing, I turn my avionics off and all I can hear is my heart beating in my ears. So, it was definitely a really nerve-wracking thing to do, but I was really happy to be there to do it.”

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Sapp is now getting her bachelor’s of science degree with a concentration in professional flight at Eastern Kentucky University.

“I’m honestly just really thankful that I had this opportunity to do it because, being at a young age, you have still so much time to learn and study and, you know, you’re
Still young. So regardless of what happens, you still have time,” Sapp said.