chandigarh

Updated: Feb 15, 2019 22:52 IST

Flight Lieutenant Hina Jaiswal from Chandigarh has scripted history by becoming the first woman flight engineer to be inducted by the Indian Air Force (IAF)

Having completed the six-month Flight Engineer course on Friday, Jaiswal will now be posted to a helicopter squadron where she will monitor and operate IAF’s complex aircraft in various conditions, right from Siachen Glacier to Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

An alumna of Shishu Niketan Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 22, Jaiswal did her engineering in electronics from University Institute of Engineering and Technology (UIET), Panjab University. She is the daughter of Anita Jaiswal, a homemaker, and DK Jaiswal, who recently retired from Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (PCDA), New Delhi,

Earlier only the domain of male aviators, the flight engineer branch was opened to woman officers in 2018. Commissioned in the engineering branch of the IAF on January 5, Jaiswal has served as the chief of firing team and battery commander in a frontline surface to Air Missile squadron.

During the course of six months of gruelling training, she trained shoulder to shoulder with her male counterparts, and displayed unflinching commitment, dedication and perseverance, said a press release from the Union ministry of defence.

Talking about her “dream come true”, Jaiswal said since childhood, she had endeavoured to wear the soldier’s uniform and take on the skies as an aviator.