In a first, all-women IAF crew flies Mi-17 helicopter

Photo courtesy: Twitter/@IAF_MCC

Chandigarh: Three women Indian Air Force officers were part of the country's first all-women crew to fly a medium-lift helicopter Mi-17 V5 on Monday.

Flight Lieutenant Parul Bhardwaj (Captain), Flying Officer Aman Nidhi (co-pilot) and Flight Lieutenant Hina Jaiswal (Flight Engineer) flew the chopper, which took off from a forward air base in South Western air command, a defence release said.

"The all-women crew flew a Mi-17 V5 helicopter for a Battle Inoculation Training mission taking off and landing from restricted areas at a forward airbase in South Western air command," it said.

Flt Lt Parul Bhardwaj, also the first woman pilot to fly the Mi-17 V5, hails from Punjab's Mukerian. Flight Lieutenant Hina Jaiswal from Chandigarh is the first woman flight engineer of the IAF, the release said.

Flying officer Aman Nidhi hails from Jharkhand's Ranchi and is also the first woman IAF pilot from the state, it added.

The pilots had undergone their basic flying training at the Helicopter Training School at Air Force Station Hakimpet followed by advanced training at Air Force Station Yelahanka.