First IAF woman to graduate as Flying Instructor

Chennai: Squadron leader Shalija Dhami will become the first woman from the Indian Air Force (IAF) to qualify as a Flying Instructor from the Flying Instructors` School here on Saturday.

Dhami will be among the 44 officers, including 40 from the IAF, three from the Indian Navy and one from the Army, who will graduate from the school, a defence release said here on Thursday. Air Marshal J Chauhan, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Central Air Command would preside over Saturday`s valedictory function, being organised at the Air Force station Tambaram. The training of these officers from the 135th Qualified Flying Instructors Course (QFIC) commenced on June 3 2013. The Tambaram school trains operational pilots of defence services, para military forces and friendly foreign countries to be flying instructors, who are trained to impart Air and Ground Instructions to trainee pilots.