Meet India’s First 3 Women Fighter Pilots Who Are Making The Country Proud

The Indian Air Force has always encouraged women to join the force. However, the women were limited to ground duties or flying transport aircraft and helicopters for 20 years till the arrival of the current government. It was only in 2015 that the government decided to open the fighter pilot stream for women, although on an experimental basis. History was scripted in 2016 when the IAF inducted the first batch of women fighter pilots.

The trio, Avani Chaturvedi, Bhawana Kanth and Mohana Singh, were formally commissioned by then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar in 2016. They were trained on the Pilatus, Kiran and Hawk aircraft before posted to their respective squadrons.

Chaturvedi and Kanth were assigned the MiG-21 Bison and Singh was given the Hawk for further training.

1. Avani Chaturvedi

Flight Lieutenant Avani Chaturvedi was born on 27th October 1993. She hails from Rewa district in Madhya Pradesh. After completing her schooling from Deolond in MP, she did her Bachelor’s in technology from Banasthali University, Rajasthan, and graduated in 2014. She then appeared for the CDS exams for the IAF and successfully got through. Chaturvedi became a fighter pilot in 2016 after completing a year of onerous training at the Air Force Academy at Dundigal in Hyderabad. She would be seen flying the fighter jets like Sukhoi and Tejas soon, after the completion of Stage 3 training at Bidar.

Chaturvedi became the first Indian woman pilot to take a solo flight in MiG-21 in 2018 and was subsequently promoted to the rank of Flight Lieutenant. Her journey started around 7 years ago when she learnt to fly the Cessna 152 at the flying club in her college and realised that flying was her calling. Chaturvedi’s father, Mr. Dinkar Chaturvedi, is a superintending engineer in the Water Resource Department of MP Government.

2. Bhawana Kanth

The second of the trio is Bhawana Kanth. Born on 1st December 1992 in Barauni, Bihar, Bhawana did her schooling from DAV Public School in Barauni Refinery and appeared for engineering entrance exams in Kota, Rajasthan. However, she could not get into the National Defence Academy as women were not inducted in that program. Later, she joined the BMS College of Engineering in Bengaluru to pursue a Bachelor of Engineering in Medical Electronics. After her graduation in 2014, she joined Tata Consultancy Services. Since she was always keen on flying, she appeared for the UPSC Combined Defence Services competitive exam and was eventually selected for the Indian Air Force.

She joined the fighter stream for her Stage 1 training and received a 6 months training on Kiran Intermediate Jet Trainers at Hakimpet Air Force Station in Hyderabad. Her Stage 2 training in 2016 was concurrent to her passing the Combined Graduation Parade Spring Term at the Air Force Academy in Dundigal. In March 2018, Kanth took the solo flight in a MiG-21 Bison from Ambala Air Force Station and made history. Apart from flying, Kanth has also done a few modelling assignments and print advertisements. Her father, Tej Narayan Kanth, is currently working as an electrical engineer in the Indian Oil Corporation.

3. Mohana Singh

The third of the feisty trio, Mohana Singh was born and brought up in a Defence environment as her father and grandfather both have served in the Indian Air Force. She completed her B Tech in Electronics and Communication and began working with Cognizant in Pune. Based on her interests, she appeared for the AFCAT five times. While she cleared it every time, she could not make it past the Service Selection Board interview.

However, Mohana decided to apply for the same through a fast track selection drive in Pune. This process completes the selection process in a month’s time as opposed to the regular 1-year duration. She finally got selected and was excited to have her dream come true and carry on her family’s legacy. She made her Air Show debut at Aero India 2019 while flying a Hawk-I with flypasts and superb manoeuvres. She will soon join one of the frontline fighter squadrons of the Indian Air Force.

These women have created history and are an inspiration to the women the world over. Considering the fact that they were raised in small towns, they have not just done their families proud but also the entire nation. Currently, the Indian Air Force employs around 1,500 women. Witnessing the achievement of these three heroic women, numbers are surely going to improve. As they say, for women, even sky is not the limit anymore!

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