Avani Chaturvedi, Inspiring story of India’s first female fighter pilot
Calling a nation independent does not make it independent. There should be equal rights to men and women at the same time. There has been a growing realization and recognition that empowering women is the urgent need of the hour. In most countries including India social reformers and leaders have been doing a lot to empower women. But there are miles to go.
One of humanity’s oldest dreams was to take wings and fly high!
Indian air force is one of the three Indian military forces which is mainly active to protect our country from the sky. The fighter planes are one of the strengths of the Indians Air force that has really made India one of the strongest countries over the globe. But when it comes to women fighter pilots there will be none of them in the list. The implementation of women in the flying wing was not started until the ministry of defence initiated the program to introduce women fighter pilots in Indian air force. After trials and errors, the dream finally took flight. Soon after, women also took to the skies breaking barriers and creating legends.
The first generation of Indian women fighter pilots took the wings and flew in 2015. The first three women pilots are Bhawana Kanth, Mohana Singh and Avani Chaturvedi who broke the ceiling, paving the way for future generations.
Her breakthrough has put India on the list of the countries such as the United States, Britain, Pakistan and Israel, where women are allowed to fly fighter jets.
Avani Chaturvedi has made the Indian history by flying MiG-21 fighter jet alone for nearly 30 minutes. She attained this achievement over the Jamnagar base in Gujarat. It is important to reveal that MiG-21 Bison has the highest landing and take-off speed in the world – 340 kmph. That made her the first woman fighter pilot of the country. The air force fighter Avani hails from Rewa district of Madhya Pradesh. She started her schooling from Deoland in Madhya Pradesh and was born on 27th of October 1993. Later she moved to Banasthali University for B.tech in Rajasthan. She was extremely inspired to join the Indian air force by her elder brother who is an Indian army officer. Her father Dinkar Chaturvedi is serving as an executive engineer in the water resource department.
This fighter pilot woman was a great admirer by late NASA astronaut Kalpana Chawla.
Her mother recalls how she used to say that she would be like Kalpana Chawla one day. “When astronaut Kalpana Chawla died in an unfortunate crash of her space-shuttle, I was very upset and was crying in front of the television. Then, Avani came to me and said Maa, don’t cry; I will become the next Kalpana Chawla.” Words by Avani’s mother said.
Talking about her future intentions, she revealed that she wants to become a good fighter pilot.
“My dream is to become a good fighter pilot, on whom my seniors can rely when it comes to flying live operations. I want to fly the best fighter aircraft and learn more and more each day,” – Avani Chaturvedi. She has made India proud by adding the name ‘Indian’ in the list of countries where women fighter pilots flew their fighter jet. After her graduation she attended the AFCAT exam in 2014. During her graduation tenure in the college she joined the flying club where she earned the experience of flying planes for numerous hours. She had been ranked second position in the merit list released by the Indian air force. The third and fourth were held by the two other women pilots, Bhawana Kanth and Mohana Singh respectively. After getting recommended for the flying branch in Indian air force she underwent 1 year training at the air force academy at Dundigal, Hyderabad. The training started from January 2015. Avani is among the one of the three women fighter pilots who joined the Indian air force under the first batch of female pilots. She loves to play chess and table tennis. She is also an art lover who loves sketches and paintings. Before taking the solo flight of MiG-21 Avani practiced in multiple other aircrafts like Pilatus PC-7 turbo Props, Kiran and Hawk Trainer Jets.
“The first day, I think it was quite new to them, as it was for me,” she said. But the men soon exhibited a great sense of camaraderie. “I have a great bond with all my classmates. Every flight—every landing, every take off—is different. There are days when you’ll have a bad sortie, and you will feel bad about it. On these days, when I’d go back and speak to a classmate, I’d learn that, oh, the same thing happened to him also a few days ago. That’s when I feel that I’m not the only one, and that it’s human to make mistakes.”
When she entered the academy, she was pushed out of their comfort zone and was trained rigorously to be molded into future pilots. She initiated with the six months training in basic military bearing. The first aircraft she flew during the training was the magnificent Pilatus PC-7, which has a turboprop engine and can fly at a maximum speed of 412km/h. The flight cadets of the air force academy are given a choice between three flying streams: helicopter, transport and fighters. Fighter fling being the only stream reserved for men in the past. Avani prepared to submit her choice at the academy. The Indian Air Force made a landmark decision to open up the fighter flying program for its female cadets and she was poised to make a historic choice by opting the fighter planes. It was a long distance for her to achieve her dream and passion. To finally be commissioned as the flying officer of the Indian Air Force was a proud moment for her to walk at their combined graduation parade and was profound to get her rank and wings.
On completion of the first leg of her fighter jet training Avani was posted to the frontline fighter flying squadron of Indian Air Force. Before she could fly solo, Avani had to prove herself whether she is capable of flying the jet. She had to spend hours practicing the type69 trainer and simulator. Even if the fighter pilot is much experienced, they must periodically undertake simulator sorties to sharpen their instinctive flight responses.
From learning the basics of an aircraft, Avani trained to fly the MiG-21 Bison. The MiG-21 Bison, a supersonic jet is an interceptor and a fighter aircraft fitted with an advanced radar system. This legendary single cockpit war machine was introduced in the Indian Air Force in 1964. It travels at the speed of 2 MACH, which is twice the speed of sound. The mission was to fly the dual cockpit trainer independent of the flight instructor’s interventions. She had to perform all her functions inside the cockpit without any glitches. Avani had to display exemplary flying to earn her place in the MiG 21 solo. After her flight Chaturvedi waited for her results where she passed the test and was ready to fly MiG 21. Avani celebrated her first solo sorties on the MiG 21 Bison.
She was honored with the doctorate degree from Banasthali Vidyapeeth in 2018. Chaturvedi was awarded with Nari Shakti Puraskar by President Ram Nath Kovind on 9 March 2020.
It is a fact that women sometimes lag their confidence to match their competence, but they must always be ready to face the challenges and to take risks to come out of the roofs above their heads to create hundreds of Avani Chaturvedi in future
