Sub lieutenant Shivangi on Monday carved out a place for herself in naval aviation history by becoming the first woman pilot in the Indian Navy, a defence ministry spokesperson said. Until now, women officers only served as observers on board aircraft such as the P-8I submarine hunters and Ilushyin-38, also used for anti-submarine warfare.
The 24-year-old, who grew up in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district chasing dreams of becoming a pilot, is thrilled about being a trailblazer.
“The aircraft doesn’t recognise gender. It doesn’t care whether the pilot is a man or a woman. It’s quite exhilarating that my dream has come true. I have dreamt of flying since I was 10,” Shivangi, who only uses her first name, told Hindustan Times from Kochi.
The above is from a report by Rahul Singh published in the Hindustan Times. (https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/indian-navy-s-first-woman-pilot-takes-wing/story-VfrAkXq0JQcko25cxzaWNN.html)
Additional inputs from PIB release...
A batch of three trainee officers of the 7th Dornier Conversion Course (DOCC) including a lady officer qualified as Dornier pilots and were awarded the coveted golden “Wings” ata simple and solemnceremony held at INS Garuda on 02 Dec 19. Vice Admiral AK Chawla, AVSM, NM, VSM, the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-in-C), Southern Naval Command was the Chief Guest for the ceremony who presented the “Wings” to the passing out officers, signifying their qualification as naval aviators.
The FOC-in-C South Rolling Trophy for standing first in overall order of merit was awarded to Lieutenant Shivam Pandey. Sub Lieutenant (SLt) Shivangi created history as the first woman pilot of the Indian Navy, on successful graduation from the course.
The award of the ‘Wings’ marks the culmination of one year of flying training at the Air Force Academy (AFA), Dundigal and Indian Naval Air Squadron (INAS) 550, INS Garuda in Kochi. From here on, these pilots will join the ‘Dornier Operational Flying Training’ course at INAS 550 from mid-January 2020, prior to joining an operational Maritime Reconnaissance squadron.
SLt Shivangi, a native of Muzaffarpur, Bihar was inducted into the Indian Navy under the Short Service Commission (SSC)-Pilot entry scheme, and was part of the 27thNavalorientationcourse(NOC)Course at the Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala. She was commissioned into the Navy in June last year. As part of her training, SLt Shivangi has flown Pilatus PC 7 MkII, Basic Trainer at AFA and completed Dornier Conversion with the Indian Navy at Kochi. She will continue her training at INAS 550, the Dornier squadron at INS Garuda, to become a fully operational pilot on Maritime Reconnaissance (MR) aircraft.
