The triple record of Indian women pilots in flight over the North Pole.

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4 years ago

In case anyone doubted it: the view over the North Pole is “superb”. The pilots Zoya Aggarwal, Papagari Thanmai, Akansha Sonaware and Shivani Manhas have proved it with their own eyes this week, after flying over the Arctic territory. A flight that has broken a handful of records.

To begin with, the journey has been the longest non-stop flight made by a company in that country. The Air India flight left San Francisco on January 11th at 8.30pm (local time) and landed at Kempegowda International Airport in Bangalore at 3.45am (local time). In total it has been 16,000 kilometers and 17 hours of flight… Above the North Pole, saving ten tons of fuel.

Besides, there were only women in charge of this flight. To top off the historic day, that it was also the first time that a flight was operated between these cities, where the ‘Silicon Valley’ of these countries, the United States and India, are located, El Mundo reported

“Today, we have made history not only by flying over the North Pole, but also by having a crew composed only of women. We are very happy and proud,” said Commander Zoya Aggarwal to the local press.

With more than 8,000 flight hours, Aggarwal became the youngest woman to fly a Boeing 777 in 2013. “Women should have confidence in themselves and not consider any task impossible,” she said. “I am very proud to have a team of experienced women with me.

“That’s the way to go, girls,” tweeted India’s Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.

India has the highest percentage of female pilots of any country in the world. They represent 12% of the group, according to the International Society of Women Airline Pilots (ISWAP), which is well above the global average, which barely reaches 5%.

The flight route required a lot of preparation, particularly for the stretch of the journey that took the plane over the icy and remote North Pole. Pilots had to plan for adverse weather conditions, solar radiation levels and the availability of other airports, in case they had to make a detour due to an emergency.