Sub-lieutenant Shivangi becomes first woman pilot for Indian Navy

Kochi: Sub-lieutenant Shivangi became the first woman pilot for the Indian Navy on Monday. Born in Bihar's Muzaffarpur, she was commissioned into the Indian Navy in 2018 after her initial training. Shivangi joined operational duties at the Kochi naval base on Monday. She will be flying the Dornier surveillance aircraft of the Navy.

After her achievement, she expressed happiness at her feat saying she has been craving for it for a long time. "It`s a proud feeling for me, my parents and it`s a different feeling. I have been craving for this since a very long time & finally, it is here, so it's a great feeling. I am looking forward to completing my third stage of training," after joining her operational duties at Kochi naval base.

"Women were always there in the Navy. They were not in the cockpit. Observers were there. This is something different... a woman in the cockpit for the first time. It will create more opportunity for other women who want to join Defence...maybe they will start going for choppers and fighters," she added.

In August, Indian Air Force`s Wing Commander S Dhami has become the first female officer in the country to become the Flight Commander of a flying unit. Dhami took over as Flight Commander of a Chetak helicopter unit at Hindon airbase. Flight Commander is the second in command of the unit meaning that she is the number two in the unit after the commanding officer.