A decade before Avani Chaturvedi became India’s first solo woman fighter pilot, Pakistan had already done it, as had UAE, Somalia and Turkey.
New Delhi: Flying Officer Avani Chaturvedi became the first Indian woman fighter pilot to fly solo on Monday.
Chaturvedi piloted a MiG-21 fighter aircraft which took flight from Jamnagar, Gujarat. The MiG-21 has the highest take-off and landing speed in the world– 340 kmph.
Although her success has created a precedent for aspiring Indian women to fulfil their potential, this act is not as unprecedented on a global scale.
Congratulations to Flying Officer #AvaniChaturvedi on becoming the first Indian woman to fly a MiG-21 Bison aircraft solo. The whole country is proud of her for this amazing feat. pic.twitter.com/KVLukYDXkw
— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) February 22, 2018
Proud moment for @MinistryWCD as Fg Offr #AvaniChaturvedi, one of our #FirstLadies, becomes the First Indian Woman to fly a Fighter Aircraft ‘MiG-21 Bison’ solo. We salute the braveheart for scripting history.
Many congratulations to @IAF_MCC. #TouchTheSkyWithGlory pic.twitter.com/EmVkB2sVIE— Ministry of WCD (@MinistryWCD) February 22, 2018
India only began to induct women into its Air Force in 2016, while its neighbouring country Pakistan, had inducted women into their fighter pilot programme a decade before, in 2006. Pakistan became the first South Asian country to do so.
Pakistan also welcomed its first qualified female fighter pilot, Ayesha Farooq, in 2013.
Similarly, despite having wide restrictions on what women can do, Afghanistan welcomed their first woman fixed-wing air force pilot, Niloofar Rahmani, in 2013. This move was applauded by the US government and she was given the state department’s annual Women of Courage award.
Rahmani was just 21 years old at the time.
There is a long list of countries which have already removed the bar on women becoming fighter pilots well before India arrived at this stage.
Some of these countries include:
- Turkey, which became the first country to have a woman fighter pilot in 1936, and the only country to have never had a restriction on women joining the air force.
- Somalia which welcomed their first woman fighter pilot in 1976, who coincidentally also flew the MiG-21.
- Algeria’s Hakima Abdessamad became the first Algerian female fighter pilot in 1982 after qualifying to fly the MiG-15, the MiG-17 and the MiG-21.
- The UAE was the last country before India to welcome a female fighter pilot, Mariam al-Mansuri, into its air force in 2014. Mansuri has already led combat missions against ISIS in Syria.
In India, the process of allowing women to fly fighter planes was a gradual one and came about only after they were given the right to take up permanent positions in the Army and fly helicopters and transporter planes in the Air Force.
Thus, while this is a giant step for the Indian Air Force, it is only a small one for womankind.