Flying officer Avani Chaturvedi has scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman to fly a fighter aircraft solo.
An Indian Air Force official said, she flew a MiG-21 bison in her first solo sortie from IAF’s Jamnagar base in Gujarat .She is one of the three in the first batch of female pilots, besides Bhawana Kanth and Mohana Singh, who were inducted in Indian Air Force fighter squadron in 2016.They were commissioned as flying officers after the government took the decision in 2015 to open the fighter stream for women on an experimental basis in three women pilots had undergone strenuous training programme to fly fighter jets.
Avani’s father, Dinkar Chaturvedi, is an executive engineer in the Water Resource Department of Madhya Pradesh government. Avani drew inspiration from her brother, who is in Army, to serve the country. Even in college, she had joined a flying club to learn the basics of flying an aircraft.
She did her schooling from Deoland and after completing her Bachelors in Technology from Banasthali University, Rajasthan in 2014, she even got a job with IBM. But she left the lucrative job for her first love – The Indian Air Force.
Along with Avani, Mohana Singh and Bhawana Kanth were included in the first batch of women fighter pilots in India. They were formally commission by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on June 18, 2016. Mohana Singh and Bhawana have also completed training to fly a fighter plane and will soon fly fighter planes. All three were given training in January.
The IAF has already selected the next batch of three women trainee pilots for the fighter stream.
IndianBureaucracy.com wishes Ms Avani Chaturvedi the very best.