First group of 3 female Navy pilots: Lieutenant Divya Sharma (top), Lieutenant Shubhangi Swaroop (bottom left), Lieutenant Shivangi (bottom right)
Key points
- Lieutenant Shivangi was the first to qualify as a naval pilot
- Lieutenant Divya Sharma was chosen ‘First to fly’
- The three female pilots were part of the Dornier Operational Flying Training (DOFT) course
New Delhi: The Indian Navy has commissioned its first batch of female Dornier pilots by Southern Naval Command (SNC) in Kochi. Lieutenant Divya Sharma (from Malviya Nagar, New Delhi), Lieutenant Shubhangi Swaroop (from Tilhar, Uttar Pradesh) and Lieutenant Shivangi (from Muzaffarpur, Bihar) are the three female pilots in the first group.
The three female pilots were part of Dornier’s Operational Flight Training Course (DOFT), who graduated as ‘Fully Operational Maritime Reconnaissance (MR) Pilots’. They were honored by Rear Admiral Antony George, VSM, NM, SNC Chief of Staff (Training) at the event.
Lieutenant Shivangi was the first to qualify as a naval pilot. Lieutenant Divya Sharma and Lieutenant Shivam Pandey were assigned ‘First in flight’ and ‘First on the ground’, respectively.
The pilots had received basic flight training partly with the Indian Air Force and partly with the Navy prior to the DOFT course. The course comprised one month of ground training phase conducted at various SNC professional schools and eight months of flight training at SNC’s Dornier Squadron, INAS 550.
“The Commanding Officer (South) Rolling Trophy in memory of the late Lieutenant Simon George Pynomootil for the ‘Most Energetic Apprentice’ was presented to Lieutenant Kumar Vikram. This trophy was instituted on June 18, 2019 during the Jubilee celebration Diamond Award from INAS 550 to immortalize the spirit of the officer who was a qualified island pilot and lost his life in a fatal plane crash while serving with the squadron on May 17, 1985, “according to the government press release.
Earlier this month it was announced that the IAF’s first three female fighter pilots will also be commissioned by the end of this year, and the second group of three more female pilots are now being trained for the position.
