New Delhi, May 22: Flight Lieutenant Bhawana Kanth on Wednesday became the first woman fighter pilot to be qualified to undertake missions by day on a fighter aircraft. She completed Day operational syllabus on Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 aircraft today. Notably, Kanth had joined fighter squadron in '2017 and flew the first solo on MiG-21 Bison in Mar 2018.'
Last year, Kanth became the second female pilot to fly a fighter jet solo. The first woman is Avani Chaturvedi. Kanth along with Chaturvedi and Mohana Singh were declared as the first combat pilots of the Indian Air Force. The historic event took place on June 18, 2016. Bhawana Kanth Becomes India's Second Woman Pilot To Fly Fighter Aircraft Solo, Creates History.
Tweet by ANI:
Flight Lt Bhawana Kanth becomes the 1st woman fighter pilot to be qualified to undertake missions by day on a fighter aircraft. She completed Day operational syllabus on MiG-21 Bison aircraft today. She had joined fighter squadron in '17&flew first solo on MiG-21 Bison in Mar '18 pic.twitter.com/TLcp5cz5bz
— ANI (@ANI) May 22, 2019
Kanth, who hails from Darbhanga in Bihar, said that "flying like a bird" had been her childhood dream. It had also inspired her to join the Air Force. For the first time, she flew MiG-21 Bison from Ambala Air Force at 2 pm on March 16, 2018. The "Biston" has virtual the highest landing and take-off speed in the world- 340kmph.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 22, 2019 08:27 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).