India Untold
After clearing the NDA exams, Mirzapur’s Sania Mirza became the country’s first Muslim female fighter pilot in the Indian Air Force.
Sania’s father, Shahid Ali works as a TV mechanic. Back in school, she was a Hindi medium student.
Thousands of students appeared for NDA 2022 exam. 400 seats were available and 19 seats were allocated for women and notably, only two were reserved for fighter pilots.
Sania secured one of the two seats reserved for fighter pilots, marking an outstanding achievement in her career.
Sania was inspired by Avni Chaturvedi, who is India’s first female fighter pilot.
India’s first female fighter pilot flew solo in MIG-21 in 2018. She also participated in the Veer Guardian 2023 exercise with Japan, flying a Sukhoi-30 fighter jet.
Indian Air Force proudly boasts of 17 women pilots. Captain Shaliza Dhami had the honour of commanding the Indian Air Service Day Parade on the 91st anniversary of Air Force Day.