Sania Mirza Becomes India’s First Muslim Fighter Pilot

Sania Mirza Becomes India’s First Muslim Fighter Pilot

A resident of Jasovar village, Uttar Pradesh Sania Mirza might become the country’s first Muslim fighter pilot after cracking the NDA exam.
Sania Mirza was a meticulous aspirant, who finally achieved her childhood ambition of getting inducted into IAF with her hard work and determination. The daughter of a TV mechanic from Mirzapur will join the Indian Air Force as the first Muslim female fighter pilot in the nation after completing the required courses.

She has always aspired to be a fighter pilot, and she was highly inspired by the first female pilot, Avni Chaturvedi. Her father Shahid Ali said: “Sania considers the country’s first female fighter pilot Avni Chaturvedi as her role model. From the beginning, she wanted to be like her.”

She got the 149th position in the National Defense Academy (NDA) exam. However, this is not her first effort to pass the exam.

In an interview, she revealed that she failed to grab a seat on the first attempt because there were only two women-reserved seats reserved in the fighter pilot wing. She added that despite stiff competition, she managed to grab a seat in her second attempt. She gives the credit for her success to her parents and her preparations at Centurion Defence Academy.

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She completed her matriculation from Pandit Chintamani Dubey Inter College. Later, she attended Mirzapur’s Guru Nanak Girls Inter College, where she completed her Intermediate and there she became the district topper.

She also highlighted that there is no need to belong to any particular language medium to get entry into something as prestigious as IAF. She emphasised the fact that she went to a Hindi-medium school. She also claimed that motivated Hindi-medium students might also achieve success.

She will join NDA Khadakwasla on December 27 2022 in Pune.

IAF statement on India’s First Muslim Fighter Pilot

She still has a long way to go to become an actual fighter pilot, the Indian Air Force (IAF) clarified in a statement on Friday.

The IAF in a statement said that a candidate takes four years to be commissioned as a pilot in the Indian Air Force. The IAF further stated that during the span of four years, the candidate has to complete the designated training for the flying branch.

“Any candidate joining NDA as an Air Force cadet in the flying branch has to undergo 3 years of combined training with his/ her coursemates from the other 2 services. The aim of NDA is to foster joint manship amongst the services, hence training is common for all. This has basic elements of flying training for AF cadets only in the last 6 months prior to passing out,” the spokesperson added.