Irene Koki Mutungi was born in 1976.
Her Kamba parents are from Kangundo in Mbilini area, Machakos County.
She is a professional pilot who flies for Kenya Airways.
Koki was the first female in Africa to become certified as a Captain of the Boeing 787 “Dreamliner” aircraft.
She was a Student at Oklahoma City in the United States where she was awarded the Commercial Pilot’s License by the Federal Aviation Authority.
She also trained at Nairobi’s Wilson Airport where she obtained her Private Pilot’s License.
Koki attended her Secondary school education at Moi Girls School, Nairobi.
In 1995, she was hired by Kenya Airways as their first female pilot.
She was the only female pilot at the airline for the next six years.
In 2004, she became the first African woman to qualify to captain a commercial aircraft, when she qualified to command the Boeing 737.
Koki has since qualified to command the Boeing 767.
She then took the conversion course which allowed her to transition to commanding a Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Kenya Airways then promoted her to Captain of the B787, making her the first African female Boeing 787 Captain in the world.
Her employer made that announcement on April 15, 2014.
Her father was a commercial pilot with Kenya Airways.
He has retired and is an aviation consultant.
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