Congratulations Avani Chaturvedi!

For everyone who doesn’t know Avani Chaturvedi, she’s the first Indian woman to fly a fighter aircraft solo.

Everything you need to know:

• Avani Chaturvedi, 27, is one of the first women along with Bhawana Kanth and Mohana Singh to be inducted as flying officers in the fighter stream in June 2016.
• On Monday morning, 19th February, she became the first Indian woman to fly a fighter aircraft, the MiG-21 Bison. She undertook the sortie from the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) Jamnagar base in Gujarat which was confirmed by the IAF on Wednesday.
• Avani flew a Mig-21 Bison for 30 minutes earlier this week. The super-sonic MiG-21 Bison fighter is considered to be a difficult aircraft to control. The MiG 21 Bison made in Russia is also the oldest fighter in IAF’s stable.
• IAF spokesperson and fighter pilot Anupam Banerjee calls it a “big day” in the history of the country’s armed forces. He added, “This is a major milestone in training of a fighter pilot and the first time that an Indian woman has flown a fighter aircraft solo. It demonstrates IAF’s enduring commitment to ‘Nari Shakti’.” He metaphorically described the event as “the breaking of a glass ceiling.”
• Avani was born in Madhya Pradesh’s Satna. She completed her schooling in Deoland, close to Rewaa, further, graduated in BTech Computer Science from Banasthali University in Jaipur.
• Earlier, in one of her interviews, Avani mentioned that Kalpana Chawla was one of her inspirations. “As a child, each one of us looks up to the sky and yearns to fly like a bird,” she said.

Avani Chaturvedi, congratulations from everyone at Team Playo for being the first Indian woman to fly a fighter aircraft solo! You make India and Indians so proud! Thank you for being an inspiration to all the women in our country!