Harita Kaur Deol

Flt. Lt. Harita Kaur Deol (1972 – 25 December 1996) is a pilot with the Indian Air Force (IAF). She was the first woman pilot to fly solo in the IAF. The flight was on 2 September 1994. She was 22 years old at the time.

Harita is originally from Chandigarh. She joined the Air Force in 1992, when it advertised for the first time 8 jobs for women pilots.

She flew an Avro aircraft. She landed at the Yelahanka Air Force Station, near Bangalore. Two more women, Flight Cadets Archana Kapoor and Bindu Sebastian, did their solo flights on the Avro after Harita.

There had been other female pilots in India before, but Harita was the first time a woman was flying for the Air Force.

She died in a air crash in 1996.

References

Category:1972 births
Category:1996 deaths
Category:Aviation deaths
Category:Aviators
Category:Indian military people