New Delhi, May 27: Creating history, an all-woman crew of the Indian Air Force (IAF) on Monday flew a medium-lift helicopter Mi-17 V5. The chopper took off from a forward air base in South Western Air Command. The crew comprised Flight Lieutenant Parul Bhardwaj (captain), Flying Officer Aman Nidhi (co-pilot) and Flight Lieutenant Hina Jaiswal (flight engineer). INSV Tarini Returns Home After Circumnavigating the Globe.
Flight Lieutenant Parul who hails from Punjab’s Mukerian was the helicopter’s captain while Flying Officer Aman was the co-pilot and Flight Lieutenant Hina was the flight engineer. Flying Officer Aman belongs to Ranchi, while Flt Lt Hina hails from Chandigarh. INSV Tarini Crosses Cape Horn, Congratulatory Messages Pour in as All-Woman Crew Hoist Indian Tricolour.
Indian Air Force's Tweet:
#Congratulations #Milestone : IAF Hails #WomanPower - F/L Parul Bhardwaj, F/O Aman Nidhi, F/L Hina Jaiswal became the first 'all woman' crew to fly a medium-lift IAF helicopter. S/L Richa Adhikari gave the pre-flight certification to the helicopter. https://t.co/C1EOrGCV7j pic.twitter.com/yG2SUCqMPf
— Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) May 27, 2019
Flying Officer Aman is also the first woman Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot from Jharkhand. Flt Lt Hina is the first woman flight engineer of the IAF. They flew a Mi-17 V5 helicopter for a Battle Inoculation Training mission. All the crew members had undergone their basic flying training at the Helicopter Training School at Air Force Station, Hakimpet. The pilots also underwent advanced training at Air Force Station Yelahanka. The helicopter was certified as airworthy by Squadron Leader Richa Adhikari, the unit engineering officer.
Mi-17V-5 is a military transport variant in the Mi-8/17 family of helicopters. It is produced by Kazan Helicopters, a subsidiary of Russian Helicopters.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 27, 2019 10:52 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).