This young woman becomes first-ever Indian woman to fly a fighter aircraft solo

This young woman becomes first-ever Indian woman to fly a fighter aircraft solo

Flying Officer Avani Chaturvedi on Monday made history by becoming the first Indian woman to fly a fighter aircraft solo.

Chaturvedi achieved the distinction on February 19, flying a MiG-21 “Bison”, which has virtually the highest landing and take-off speed in the world – 340 kmph.

She undertook the sortie from IAF’s Jamnagar base, reported PTI.

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Before the “Bison”, she had only undertaken solo sorties in aircraft like the Pilatus PC-7 turboprops, Kiran and Hawk jet trainers, which are much easier to handle.

Chaturvedi had already scripted history by being one of three women who became the first to undergo fighter pilot training in the Indian Air Force. The others are Bhawana Kanth and Mohana Singh.

The three women were commissioned as flying officers into the fighter stream after basic training in June 2016 on “an experimental basis” for five years initially.