Indian Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri congratulated the all-women pilot crew for flying over the North Pole to land in Bengaluru from San Francisco.
Air India’s longest direct route flight with the all-women pilot crew landed at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru from San Francisco. The flight covered a distance of about 16,000 km (10,000 miles).
Indian Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri before the flight said: “Air India’s woman power flies high around the world, our Nari Shakti achieves a historic first.” (Nari Shakti is Sanskrit / Hindi that means “women power.”)
Air India’s Captains Akanksha Sonwane, Shivani Manhas, Thanmai Papagari, and Zoya Agrawal are the pilots for the aircraft.
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.”
Shivani Manhas who was one of the four pilots who operated Air India’s maiden San Francisco-Bengaluru flight said that it was an exciting experience since it was never done before. “It took almost 17 hours to reach here,” she said.
Air India also congratulated the crew and the passengers of the flight through a tweet.
Flight AI176 was the first non-stop flight between Southern India and the US west coast.
Also Read: Air India’s nonstop San Francisco-Bengaluru maiden flight fully booked
