New Delhi: India may not allow them to fly fighter jets, when even countries like Pakistan do, but women IAF pilots are proving their mettle by flying high-risk missions on their helicopters to rescue stranded people in flood-ravaged Uttarakhand.
Meet Squadron leader Khushboo Gupta, who has already flown over 55 sorties in her Cheetah helicopter to the Kedarnath valley and beyond. "The experience is very challenging... flying at 11,500 feet altitude is not easy, often with bad weather and poor visibility. But we in the IAF are trained for such missions and keep flight safety on the top of our minds," Gupta told TOI.
Flight Lieutenant Tanya Srinivas, with barely two-and-a-half years of service as an "air warrior", is also gung-ho about the tasks ahead. "I have flown earlier in deserts, plains and hills. But this operation is specially challenging... IAF gives you the opportunity to help people in emergency situations," she said.Interestingly, the husbands of both the women are also helicopter pilots engaged in the ongoing Operation Rahat, the largest airlift of people and relief supplies undertaken by the IAF.
26/06/13 Rajat Pandit/Times of India
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Meet Squadron leader Khushboo Gupta, who has already flown over 55 sorties in her Cheetah helicopter to the Kedarnath valley and beyond. "The experience is very challenging... flying at 11,500 feet altitude is not easy, often with bad weather and poor visibility. But we in the IAF are trained for such missions and keep flight safety on the top of our minds," Gupta told TOI.
Flight Lieutenant Tanya Srinivas, with barely two-and-a-half years of service as an "air warrior", is also gung-ho about the tasks ahead. "I have flown earlier in deserts, plains and hills. But this operation is specially challenging... IAF gives you the opportunity to help people in emergency situations," she said.Interestingly, the husbands of both the women are also helicopter pilots engaged in the ongoing Operation Rahat, the largest airlift of people and relief supplies undertaken by the IAF.
26/06/13 Rajat Pandit/Times of India
