Avani Chaturvedi, a girl from Rewa district in Madhya Pradesh, began her journey in July 2016 when she was commissioned as a flying officer by the Indian Air Force. Today, she has become the first Indian woman to fly a combat aircraft solo and that’s a win for the entire nation. Avani, along with two other women, Bhawana Kanth and Mohana Singh underwent strenuous training in order to fly fighter jets at the Hyderabad Air Force Academy.
It was in mid-2015 when the government decided to open the fighter stream for the women in India and look how it has turned out! We can’t help but be proud of the fact that women finally have representation in the Air Force, despite having none in combat roles in the Indian Army (maybe that will change soon).
“Chaturvedi became the first Indian woman to fly a fighter aircraft solo when she flew a MiG-21 bison in her first solo flight,” an Indian Air Force official said to a leading news channel. She began this journey from IAF’s Jamnagar base on Monday and flew solo for 30 minutes, setting an amazing example for the next batch of three trainee pilots who have already been selected for training this year.
Images: Doon Defence Academy, Zee News, Scroll, New Indian Express, Reacho
