Oliver experienced an event in February 1959 that underscored her later aviation accomplishments . She was a passenger aboard Pan Am Flight 115 , a Boeing 707 on a transatlantic flight from Paris to New York City when it dropped from to . It was February 3 , 1959 , the same day Buddy Holly died in an airplane crash . These events caused her to avoid flying for the next year , even turning down job offers ( with the exception of auditioning for '' BUtterfield 8 '' ) if they were so short notice she could only travel by air . She eventually underwent hypnosis to overcome her fear of flying
Pan Am Flight 115
Pan Am Flight 115
Susan Oliver