Meet Sub Lieutenant Shivangi, the first naval woman pilot
Sub Lieutenant Shivangi Swaroop on Monday became the first naval women pilot as she joined operational duties in Kochi naval base. Shivangi will be flying the Dornier surveillance aircraft of the Indian Navy. These surveillance aircraft are sent on short-range maritime missions. She joined her duties today after completing her training in Southern Command of Kochi-based Indian Naval Air Squadron 550.
While joining her duties as a pilot in the Indian Navy, Shivangi Swaroop said, "I have been craving for this since a very long time & finally it is here, so it's a great feeling. I am looking forward to complete my 3rd stage of training."
"I am on cloud nine." Shivangi Swaroop said.
Born in Bihar's Muzaffarpur, Shivangi did her schooling from DAV Public school. She holds a B.Tech in mechanical engineering from Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology.
Her father is a school teacher and her mother is a housewife. While she was in college, a naval presentation inspired her to make her career in naval forces and thus she dropped an application for Service Selection Board examination in Bhopal which she cleared with flying colours. But she did not receive any call due to fewer vacancies.
During her Master's at the Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur, she again attended SSB in Bengaluru and made a cut.
After a six-month-long Naval Orientation Course at the Indian Naval Academy at Ezhimala, she spent another six months went through a basic trainer at the Air Force Academy (AFA). At Kochi-based Indian Naval Air Squadron 550, she learnt to fly the Dornier maritime reconnaissance aircraft.
Last year, Shivangi was commissioned into the Indian Navy after completing her initial training. She was formally made part of the Navy by Vice Admiral AK Chawla.
