Indian Navy's All Woman Aircrew Creates History

Tags: Defence

5 officers of INAS 314 of the Indian Navy based at Naval Air Enclave, Porbandar created history by completing the first all-female independent maritime reconnaissance and surveillance mission in the North Arabian Sea on 3 Aug 2022 aboard a Dornier 228 aircraft.

Important facts

• The mission was carried out by five officers of Indian Naval Air Squadron (INAS) 314 based at Naval Air Enclave in Porbandar, Gujarat.

• The aircraft was captained by the Mission Commander, Lt Cdr Aanchal Sharma. 

• His team consisted of Pilots Lt Shivangi and Lt Apoorva Geete and Tactical and Censor Officer Lt Pooja Panda and SLT Pooja Shekhawat.

• The ground training and extensive mission briefings were provided to the women officers ahead of this historic flight.

• This will pave the way for women officers in the aviation cadre to assume more responsibility and aspire for more challenging roles.

• It is a pioneering initiative in women empowerment which includes induction of women pilots, selection of women air operations officers in the helicopter stream and piloting a women's sailing expedition around the world in 2018.

Indian Naval Air Squadron 314

• The sixth Dornier aircraft squadron was commissioned on 29 November 2019 at a ceremony held at Naval Air Enclave, Porbandar. 

• It marks another milestone in efforts towards enhancing maritime security and surveillance footprint in the North Arabian Sea.

• It is a frontline naval air squadron that operates the state-of-the-art Dornier 228 maritime reconnaissance aircraft. 

• The squadron is commanded by Commander SK Goel, a qualified Navigation Instructor.