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Berkshire Business Journal MAY 2025 I VOL. 4, NO. 5
Teaching for the skies First Step Aviation takes flight at Pittsfield Municipal Airport
PHOTOS BY GILLIAN HECK
Yulia Bougouin has started her own flight school, First Step Aviation, at the Pittsfield Municipal Airport. She is committed to providing quality flight training. BY DYLAN THOMPSON PITTSFIELD — A close call in midair changed
Yulia Bougouin’s life. In April 2009, Bougouin and her husband, Jean Yves, were flying out of Washington, D.C., in their Bellanca Super Viking. As always, Yves was at the controls, while Bougouin, who knew nothing about aviation at the time, was the passenger. Shortly after takeoff, Bougouin had started to drift off when she was awakened by a loud bang: The plane had struck two large geese, blowing out the windshield. One of the birds — and perhaps debris from the windshield — struck Yves in the left eye, causing a gash that would require 16 stitches. With the windshield off and wind buffeting their faces, the couple wondered if they were going to survive. “That was a pretty scary near-death experience,” Bougouin said. “That made me
Bougouin flies a Piper Cherokee 180 over The Berkshires. Bougouin also hopes to go into high schools and present aviation to kids, especially girls. think about how I didn’t know anything about flying [a] plane.” Yves was able to land the plane safely, but Bougouin was shaken by the experience. She turned her attention to learning more about aviation, which eventually led to her becoming an FAA certified flight instructor. “It’s like a switch flipped in my head,” Bougouin said of her first flight as a pilot. “I just didn’t want to stop. I wanted to keep learning, and then I just kept going… The passion just emerged.” Now, Bougouin has taken the next step in her journey, launching First Step Aviation in February. FLIGHT SCHOOL, Page 3