All-women cockpit crew scripts history, fly over North pole on world's longest air route
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Bengaluru, January 11: Carving their niche, four female pilots scripted history in Indian Aviation history, by completing the longest landmark journey over the North-Pole a distance of 16,000 Kms. Captain Zoya Agarwal, Captain Papagiri Thanmei, Captain Akanksha, and Captain Shivani were the four women pilots who traveled non-stop for 17 hours to reach their destination.
The mission, which was led by Captain Zoyal Aggarwal, the all-woman cockpit crew operated the inaugural flight from San Francisco to Bengaluru. It went over the North Pole and took the Atlantic route to reach the capital city of Karnataka. The inaugural flight AI176 departed from San Francisco in the USA at 8.30 pm (local time) on Saturday and landed at the Kempegowda International Airport at 3.45 am (local time) on Monday.
Must’ve been a sight to behold !
— India in Sweden & Latvia (@IndiainSweden) January 11, 2021
San Francisco to Bengaluru
via Arctic
Congratulations 🎉
All women @airindiain crew
of this historic inaugural flight
Flying over 14,000 km in 18 hours
Connecting two global tech hubs https://t.co/0ctRmICv7X
According to aviation experts, flying over the North Pole is extremely technical and requires skill and experience Informing about the news, Air India further added that the direct distance between the two cities at the opposite end of the world is 13,993 KM. The time zone change is of 13.5 hours approx.
#FlyAI : @flySFO was set abuzz with Air India's women pilots gearing up to conquer the sky with their epic non-stop flight over the Pole en route to @bengaluruairprt. pic.twitter.com/P4n3dPJOoW
— Air India (@airindia) January 10, 2021
Speaking about the experience Captain Zoya Aggarwal said, "Today, we created world history by not only flying over the North Pole but also by having all women pilots who successfully did it. We are extremely happy and proud to be part of it. This route has saved 10 tonnes of fuel."
Captain Aggarwal is an accomplished pilot with a flight experience of over 8000 hours. She has command experience in a B-777 aircraft of more than 10 years and more than 2500 flying hours. She was the youngest woman pilot to fly a Boeing-777 in 2013. This is another feather to her cap. With that, she became the first woman commander of Air India to command a flight over the North Pole.
Shivani Manhas, one of the four pilots who operated Air India's inaugural San Francisco-Bengaluru flight said, "It was an exciting experience since it was never done before. It took almost 17 hours to reach here."
Praising the crew Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said, "In a moment to cherish & celebrate, women professionals of Indian civil aviation create history. Heartiest Congratulations to Capt Zoya Aggarwal, Capt Papagari Thanmai, Capt Akansha Sonaware & Capt Shivani for flying over the North Pole to land in Bengaluru from San Francisco".
From San Francisco to Bengaluru, the historic all-women cockpit crew polar flight makes Vande Bharat Mission even more special: Union Aviation Minister @HardeepSPuri https://t.co/wji4Pjgl6L
— Prasar Bharati News Services & Digital Platform (@PBNS_India) January 11, 2021
This was the first direct non-stop flight between southern India and the west coast of the United States. A significant population of Indians lives in San Francisco, and a direct flight will cater to their long-pending demand.