Captain Richard "Dick" Charles Trentman

Richard "Dick" Trentman, was born December 16, 1939 and passed away on December 23, 2019 at the age of 80. He grew up watching planes overhead in Derby, Kansas which was near Wichita, KS - a major hub for WW2 aircraft manufacturing and air bases. His father was a farmer but also had a private pilot?€™s license and introduced him to the joys of flying. Dick attended Kansas State University, where his love for flying continued and he earned his private pilot?€™s license, while also completing a B.S. in Business Administration. He married Karen E. Teagarden and after graduation, he worked as a computer programmer, and served 8 years in the U.S. Army Reserves as an air traffic controller.

In 1966, his dream came true and he was hired by TWA. He was initially stationed out of JFK airport in New York City, then Kansas City, and finally out of St. Louis, MO where he flew international flights to Europe on the B767.

Dick flew professionally for TWA for 32 years on several aircraft including the Boeing 707, 727, 767, DC9 and MD80. During this time, he also worked as a TWA flight instructor out of the Kansas City training center for 10 years. He was proud to serve on the ALPA safety committee for Category D MEL in the early days of the Boeing 767 ETOPS program. He also served TWA as a flight instructor for Olympic Airways in Athens, Greece and also for Saudia Airlines in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The highlight of his career was being the first father-daughter cockpit crew at TWA, flying with his daughter, First Officer Cheryl Trentman. This event made the national news, and continues to be a treasured family milestone. This memory came full circle when the family was able to visit the new TWA Hotel in May of 2019. It was a weekend of reminiscing about the life of an airline family, and he was joined by his younger brother, Captain Clifford O. Trentman, American Airlines. The three Trentman pilots are listed together on the Wall of Honor.

One of Dick's great passions after his retirement from TWA in 1998 included the Astronomical Society of Kansas City, where he worked nights for several years on projects for NASA. This culminated in a discovery of a near-earth asteroid, which was named "Minor Planet 41279 Trentman."