Fighter jets do not discriminate between a man or woman: Avani Chaturvedi – Indian Defence Research Wing
On International Women’s Day, India’s first woman fighter pilot Avani Chaturvedi who holds the distinction to fly solo stressed the need to be efficient and hard working. ?
“Machine doesn’t know your gender. Be it a boy or a girl, you’ve to be competent, the Indian Air Force doesn’t discriminate. To make the 30 mins of sortie work you’ve to do a lot of groundwork, the contribution of the team that supports is immensely important,” Chaturvedi was quoted as saying by ANI.
Flying Officer Chaturvedi also spoke about how her journey of being a fighter pilot has been a learning experience so far.
“I’ve done my schooling from a Hindi medium school. The journey of being a fighter pilot has been about a lot of learning. I’m still in the training phase of being an independent pilot,” she further said.
Chaturvedi created history on February this year by becoming the first Indian woman fighter pilot to fly solo. She flew a MiG-21 Bison in her first training solo sortie, in Jamnagar, Gujarat.
She was declared as the first combat pilot along with two of her cohort, Mohana Singh, and Bhawana Kanth. The trio was inducted into the Indian Air Force fighter squadron on June 18, 2016. They were formally commissioned by then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.