For the first time, 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. Flight Lieutenant Parul Bhardwaj was the helicopter’s captain, Flying Officer Aman Nidhi was the co-pilot and Flight Lieutenant Hina Jaiswal was flight engineer. LADY OFFICERS IN INDIAN ARMY TO GET PERMANENT COMMISSION.
Flight Lieutenant Parul hails from Punjab’s Mukerian,while Flying Officer Aman belongs to Ranchi, and Flt Lt Hina hails from Chandigarh. 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. LT SANGEETA MALL, WIDOW OF GORKHA RIFLES JAWAN JOINS INDIAN ARMY.
IAF’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
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 unit engineering officer Squadron Leader Richa Adhikari. CHANGING ROLE OF WOMEN OFFICERS IN INDIAN DEFENCE FORCES.
The Mi-17 V-5 is a Russian helicopter which is considered to be an advanced version of Mi-8/17 family of helicopters. It is deployed in troops and arms transport. It is produced by Kazan Helicopters, a subsidiary of Russian Helicopters. The Mi-17V-5 has a maximum speed of 250km/h, and a standard range of 580km, which can be extended to 1,065km when fitted with two auxiliary fuel tanks.
(Picture Courtesy: Twitter/@IAF_MCC)
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