It’s a great life, say women coast guard pilots

New Delhi: February 4, 2012, is a red-letter day in the history of Indian aviation. This day, for the first time, two women helicopter pilots took off from an Indian Coast Guard ship, ICGS Sankalp.
Imagine operating a chopper from a helipad that is constantly rolling, pitching and heaving. The Indian Coast Guard’s only women helicopter pilots, assistant commandants Ruchi Sangwan and Bhawana Rana, are proud holders of Deck Landing Qualification that recognizes their ability to do just that.
Sangwan comes from the small town of Charkhi Dadri in Haryana that hit the headlines in 1996 after two passenger jets collided over it. Sangwan was 11 when she decided to be a pilot. Her parents, both government school teachers, were supportive, but had no money to fund her expensive education. “I took a bank loan of Rs 10 lakh and went to Ahmedabad for my commercial pilots licence (CPL). My parents are proud of me,” she says.
04/03/13 Neha Lalchandani/Times of India