India's first three women fighter pilots commissioned

Avani Chaturvedi, Bhawana Kanth and Mohana Singh on Saturday were commissioned as India's first three women fighter pilots

Hyderabad: Avani Chaturvedi, Bhawana Kanth and Mohana Singh on Saturday were commissioned as India's first three women fighter pilots.

Women fighter pilots (from left) Avani Chaturvedi, Bhavana Kanth and Mohana Singh in Hyderabad on Saturday. Pic/PTI

On completion of successful training at the Air Force Academy in Dundigal on the outskirts of Hyderabad, the trio were formally commissioned into Indian Air Force by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar. The first women to be commissioned into fighter stream in IAF, they were the centre of attraction at the Combined Graduation Parade.

The women, who broke the barriers to etch their names in the history of Indian Air Force, will get to fly fighter jets like Sukhoi and Tejas next year after completion of stage-III training at Bidar in Karnataka. Avani Chaturvedi, hailing from Satna, Madhya Pradesh, comes from a family of army officers. She was inspired by her brother who is also in the army.

She always wanted to fly and joined the flying club of her college. Bhawana Kanth hails from Darbhanga in Bihar. As a child, she always dreamt of flying planes. She opted for fighter stream after successfully completing her stage I training.

Daughter of an officer in the Indian Oil Corporation, she set the goal of becoming a fighter pilot and serve the nation. Mohana Singh comes from Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan. Her grandfather was a flight gunner in Aviation Research Centre and father is a warrant officer in the IAF. Mohana is excited to continue the family legacy of serving the nation.

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