Candi Kubeck

Candalyn Kubeck (May 10, 1961–May 11, 1996) was the captain of ValuJet Flight 592, which crashed in the Everglades. She was the first female captain to die in a commercial airline crash. She was unable to save the DC-9 and was overcome by smoke inhalation. She then passed out in the cockpit and forced the plane into a nose dive into the Everglades.

Candalyn Chamberlain was born in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, on May 10, 1961. She grew up in the San Diego area and started flying lessons while in high school. Kubeck went to Palomar College in San Marcos where she was a member of the flight team. Kubeck transferred to Metro State College in Denver, Colorado, where she earned her bachelor's degree in Aviation Studies in 1982. While at Metro she flew on the college flight team and was named Top Woman Pilot at the National Intercollegiate Flying Association's national meeting in 1981. The award has since been named after her. She also earned a Ninety-Nines Amelia Earhart Memorial Flight Scholarship in 1983 and got to meet Amelia's sister, Muriel.

She married Roger Kubeck on the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California in September 1987.

Kubeck had many jobs in the aviation field: flight instructor, air traffic control specialist, freight pilot, commuter airline captain, and finally captain for ValuJet Airlines.