Kelly Flinn (whose surname was sometimes misspelled as Flynn; born December 23, 1970) is a former B-52 pilot in the United States Air Force (USAF). She was the first female pilot to serve in that capacity.
She was discharged from the U.S. Air Force in 1997 after an adulterous affair with the husband of an enlisted subordinate, for military offenses including disobeying a direct order from her commanding officer to break off the affair, and for twice lying under oath to investigators about having done so.
The scandal received widespread media attention at the time and was discussed in a U.S. Senate hearing on May 22, 1997.
Kelly Flinn worked as a commercial pilot for Trans World Airlines after leaving the Air Force.
Background
Flinn was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the youngest of five children. She decided to become a pilot after attending Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama. and fraternization (for an additional affair that she had with an enlisted man).
Flinn's case, due in part to her high visibility in Air Force recruitment advertisements, drew national attention, eventually creating a media circus. The Chief of Staff of the Air Force, General Ronald Fogleman, testified at a congressional hearing that, "In the end, this is not an issue of adultery. This is an issue about an officer, entrusted to fly nuclear weapons, who lied."
Following the media outcry, Flinn was allowed to resign from the Air Force by Secretary of the Air Force Sheila Widnall with a general discharge instead of facing a court-martial.