First solo sortie by IAF woman pilot

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 21  

Flying Officer Avani Chaturvedi of the Indian Air Force (IAF) has created history by becoming the first Indian woman pilot to fly solo in a super-sonic fighter jet. She flew her first solo sortie in a Russian made MiG-21 fighter, thus creating history.

She is from the first batch of women fighter pilots of the Air Force. 

Flying Officer Chaturvedi still has a few steps to walk before she is considered to be “fully operational” and can be deployed. Her unit is deployed close to the India-Pakistan border in Rajasthan.

The feat was accomplished on February 19 when Flying Officer Chaturvedi took off from the Jamnagar Air base in Gujarat and successfully completed her mission. 

The solo sortie in a fighter jet is the first step towards becoming a fully operational fighter pilot.

The first sortie lasted for about 30 minutes in the MiG-21 Bison fighter, which is considered a difficult platform to handle.

Flying Officers Chaturvedi, Bhavana Kanth and Mohana Singh were the first woman cadets to be admitted into the fighter stream of the IAF in 2016. 

Till then, the Air Force’s fighter stream was a “male only” domain.  Flying Officers Chaturvedi and Kanth have been assigned to MiG-21 squadrons.