 She then proceeded to take only three flight lessons, before taking to the sky by herself.Later in life, after losing sight in one eye to glaucoma, she became an advocate for improved eye care and was executive director of the first eye bank in America.Aida was born in the Elberon section of Long Branch, New Jersey, in 1884 to Ricardo de Acosta, a steamship executive of Cuban descent, and Micaela Hernández de Alba y de Alba, reputedly a descendant of the Alba family, famous in the history of Spain as the Dukes of Alba.