23/05/2019

Bihar girl Bhawana Kanth is IAF's first combat-ready woman fighter pilot





New Delhi, May 22 :  Flight Lieutenant Bhawana Kanth is now the first woman fighter pilot to qualify for combat missions.

She completed the operational syllabus on Wednesday on MiG-21 Bison jet. Posted in Nal airbase on the border with Pakistan, she is now qualified for night flying operations as well.

Bhawana was one of the three women along with Mohna Singh and Avani Chaturvedi in 2016. Since then, IAF has inducted six women into the fighter stream.

For Bhawana, whose father is an engineer at Indian Oil Company and mother a homemaker, flying “like a free bird” has been a childhood dream. This, she explained, inspired her to join the IAF. Getting the opportunity to opt for the fighter stream is the “best and biggest” thing that has happened to her, she said, adding that she wants to fight for the nation and make her parents proud. The fighter pilot, who hails from Darbhanga in Bihar, said recovering her aircraft from a solo spin at 20,000 ft at a time when “doubts started creeping in” boosted her confidence.


MiG-21 Bison is the same fighter jet that Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman flew when he downed Pakistan Air Force's F-16 durig an aerial combat on February 27.

     








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