Hello Warriors, wish you all a Happy International Woman’s Day. The first batch of women fighter pilots will be graduated from the Air Force Academy, Dundigal on 18th June this year. So, this woman’s day, let’s talk about the first ever pilot of the Indian Air Force – Flight Lt Harita Kaur Deol.
Born in 1972, Flight Lt. Harita Kaur Deol, was a pilot with the Indian Air Force. She was the first woman pilot to fly solo in the Indian Air Force. Earlier, woman used to company their male counterparts while airborne.
Her first solo flight was on 2 September 1994 in an Avro HS-748, when she was 22 years old. Zipped up in her navy blue overalls and strapped to the pilot’s seat inside the cockpit of an Avro aircraft, she made history when she kissed the clouds at a height of 10,000 feet on that Friday morning. It was indeed a momentous occasion for the five-feet-two-inch tall girl and the Indian Air Force.
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Two more women, Flight Cadets Archana Kapoor and Bindu Sebastian, did their solo flights on the Avro after Harita. There had been other female pilots in India earlier, but Harita was the first time a woman was flying for the Air Force.
She hailed from Chandigarh in a Sikh family. In 1993, she became one of first seven women cadets inducted into the Air Force as Short Service Commission (SSC) officers. She came from the Sikh community whose members follow the teachings of Saint Guru Nanak. The Sikhs are supposedly great warriors and stand for their integrity and dedication. Hence, was proved by Harita.
When the IAF advertised for eight vacancies for women pilots in 1992, there were 20,000 applicants from all over the country. About 500 qualified for the written examination held at Mysore, Dehra Dun and Varanasi. From each of these centres, 10 to 12 candidates cleared the written test and were put through a week’s physical training followed by a medical checkup. Only 13 candidates withstood the strain, pressure and competition and were inducted into the IAF’s transport fleet.
This also marked a critical phase in training of women in India as a transport pilots. After initial training at Air Force Academy, Dundigul near Hyderabad, she received further training at Air Lift Forces Training Establishment (ALFTE) at Yelahanka Air Force Station.
Talking about the family background, only 3 of the 7 women’s fathers retired as Army or Air force officers. The remaining girls’ fathers were either businessmen or professionals. Three women Cadets were from ex-NCC of Air wing. Before joining the Hyderabad Academy, two girls had already completed their Private Pilot’s license and one had completed her Commercial Pilot’s License.
However Harita died in an air-crash near Nellore on Dec. 25, 1996. She was one of 24 Air Force personnel to die when an Indian Air Force Avro aircraft, crashed near the Bukkapuram village in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh. It was Christmas Day and Harita was only 24 years old.
Sadly, very little is known about this young woman who made national headlines and is often quoted as a statistic in competitive exams. But what we can easily guess is that her tryst with the skies, however brief was filled with courage and fearlessness.
Though this brave woman is not alive, lots of Indian women have derived inspiration from her hard work and bravery and are anxious to seek a carrier in Air Force in spite of dangers lurking in the shadow in such work.
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