On December 30, 1986, American Airlines Flight 412 touched down in fog at Dallas-Fort Worth with an unprecedented roster: seven women commanded the entire cockpit and cabin of a Boeing 727. Captain Beverly Bass, who had earned her captain's stripes just six weeks earlier, led First Officer Terry Claridge and Flight Engineer Tracy Prior, while four female flight attendants completed the crew. The women had arranged the schedule themselves, proving that history doesn't need a committee—just persistence and a little shift-trading. Bass, already American's first female captain, had broken the glass ceiling; that December morning, she and her crew opened the skylight.