Pakistan Women Fighter Pilots’ First Batch Inducted

Saba Khan, Nadia Gul, Mariam Khalil and Saira Batool were among 36 aviation cadets who received their wings after 3 1/2 years of intensive training, breaking into an all-male bastion of Pakistan’s armed forces. The four women are the first female pilots in the 58-year-history of the Pakistan air force. They trained in MFI-17 Super Mushshak and T-37 jets, and depending on their abilities and the needs of the air force could go on to fly fighter jets. Three more women are due to get their wings in October, but the air force will see how they perform before deciding whether to induct more female trainees, said Air. Cmdr. Abid Kwaja, chief of the flight training college. About 5 per cent of Pakistan’s air force officers are women, mostly serving in areas like engineering, medicine, air traffic control and administration.