First Indian Women Explorers and Aviators

The entry of Indian women into aviation began during the British colonial period, driven by the growth of flying clubs and early international aviation standards.

• First Indian Woman to Fly an Aircraft: Sarla Thakral obtained her aviation license in 1936 at the age of 21. Flying a solo de Havilland Gypsy Moth at the Lahore Flying Club, she accumulated over 1,000 hours of flying time to secure an ‘A’ license, breaking absolute male exclusivity in colonial airspace.
• First Indian Woman to Get a Commercial Pilot License (CPL): Urmila K. Parikh became the first Indian woman to achieve a commercial pilot license in 1932, predating Thakral’s aviation milestones but focusing on early cross-country navigation frameworks.

Post-Independence Commercial and Mainline Aviation

Following the Air Corporations Act of 1953, which nationalized the aviation industry into Indian Airlines and Air India, women entered commercial cockpits through structured regulatory frameworks.

• First Woman Commercial Pilot of Independent India: Captain Prem Mathur obtained her CPL from the Hyderabad Flying Club and joined Deccan Airways in 1947. She began flying as a co-pilot commercially in 1949 and won the National Air Race in 1951.
• First Woman Pilot of Air India: Captain Durba Banerjee started her career flying a Dakota aircraft for Air Survey of India in 1956. She joined Indian Airlines in 1966 as its first woman pilot and later transitioned to flying commercial Boeing 737 and Airbus platforms.
• First All-Women Crew Commercial Flight: Indian Airlines created a global civil aviation milestone in 1985 when Captain Saudamini Deshmukh and Co-pilot Nivedita Bhasin operated a Fokker Friendship F-27 aircraft on the Calcutta-Silchar route.
• First Woman Commander of a Boeing 747: Captain Saudamini Deshmukh became the first woman to command a wide-body Boeing 747 aircraft for Air India in 1988, navigating long-haul international corridors.
• Youngest Commercial Airline Commander Globally: Captain Nivedita Bhasin achieved command of a commercial Boeing 737 in 1990 at the age of 26, establishing a world record for youngest female jet commander.

Vanguard in Combat and Military Aviation

The Indian Armed Forces opened operational and combat roles to women officers through a series of policy shifts starting in the early 1990s.

• First Women Pilots in the Indian Air Force (IAF): In 1994, Flight Lieutenant Harita Kaur Deol became the first woman pilot to fly solo in an Avro HS-748 transport aircraft of the IAF, passing out from the Air Force Academy at Dundigal.
• First Women Fighter Pilots of India: Flight Lieutenants Avani Chaturvedi, Bhawana Kanth, and Mohana Singh Jitarwal were inducted into the fighter stream of the IAF in June 2016 following a policy directive allowing women in combat roles.
• First Woman Fighter Pilot to Fly Solo in a MiG-21 Bison: Flying Officer Avani Chaturvedi cleared her solo sortie in a supersonic MiG-21 Bison fighter jet at the Jamnagar Air Base in February 2018.
• First Woman Fighter Pilot to Qualify for Combat Missions: Flight Lieutenant Bhawana Kanth completed her operational syllabus in May 2019, clearing day operational capabilities on a MiG-21 Bison.
• First Woman Fighter Pilot of the Rafale Fleet: Flight Lieutenant Shivangi Singh, previously a MiG-21 pilot, was selected as the first woman pilot to fly the multi-role Rafale fighter aircraft in 2020 following Conversion Training.

Pioneers of Indian Mountaineering and High-Altitude Exploration

Milestone Ascents of Eight-Thousanders

The Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF) and regional training institutes like the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI) institutionalized high-altitude training for women, facilitating historic expeditions to peaks exceeding 8,000 meters.

• First Indian Woman to Summit Mount Everest: Bachendri Pal successfully reached the summit of Mount Everest (8,848 m) on May 23, 1984, via the Southeast Ridge route as part of a mixed IMF expedition, making her the fifth woman in global mountaineering history to scale the peak.
• First Woman to Scale Mount Everest Twice: Santosh Yadav, an officer of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), summitted Mount Everest in May 1992 and again in May 1993. She was also the first woman globally to climb Everest from the complex Kangshung Face (Eastern Face).
• Youngest Indian Girl to Scale Mount Everest: Malavath Poorna scaled Mount Everest on May 25, 2014, at the age of 13 years and 11 months, ascending from the northern Tibet side. She subsequently completed the Seven Summits challenge.
• First Indian Woman to Scale Mount Kanchenjunga: Anshu Jamsenpa holds the world record for the fastest dual ascent of Mount Everest by a woman, scaling it twice within five days in May 2017. Priyanka Mohite became the first Indian woman to scale Mount Kanchenjunga (8,586 m), the world’s third-highest peak, in 2022.
• First Indian Woman to Scale Five Peaks Above 8,000 Meters: Priyanka Mohite achieved this structural milestone by successfully summiting Mount Everest, Mount Lhotse, Mount Makalu, Mount Kanchenjunga, and Mount Annapurna.

Global Exploration and Seven-Summit Conquerors

• First Indian Woman to Complete the Seven Summits: Premlata Agrawal became the first Indian woman to climb the highest peaks of all seven continents in 2013 at the age of 50. Her itinerary included Mount Kilimanjaro, Aconcagua, Denali, Elbrus, Vinson Massif, Kosciuszko, and Everest.
• First Twin Sisters to Complete the Explorers Grand Slam: Tashi and Nungshi Malik completed the Seven Summits challenge, reached the North and South Poles, and climbed Mount Everest, thereby completing the Explorers Grand Slam and the Three Poles Challenge.

Pioneers of Polar and Deep-Sea Exploration

Arctic and Antarctic Expeditions

India’s scientific presence in the polar regions is regulated by the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), which tracks global atmospheric, glaciological, and geological changes.

• First Indian Women to Spend Winter in Antarctica: Scientific officers Dr. Aditi Pant (a marine biologist) and Dr. Sudipta Sengupta (a structural geologist) were part of the Third Indian Antarctic Expedition in 1983–84. They helped establish India’s first permanent research base, Dakshin Gangotri, and conducted extensive baseline mapping of the Schirmacher Oasis.
• First Indian Woman to Ski to the Geographic South Pole: Reena Kaushal Dharmshaktu completed the Kaspersky Commonwealth Antarctic Expedition in 2009. She skied over 900 kilometers across the Antarctic ice shelf over a 38-day period to reach the South Pole.
• First Indian Woman to Complete the Arctic Expedition: Scientific researchers from institutions like the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) have regular representation at India’s permanent Arctic research station, Himadri, located at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, Norway.

Maritime and Circumnavigation Milestones

• First Indian Woman to Circumnavigate the Globe Solo: While Commander Abhilash Tomy was the first Indian male to achieve this, the Indian Navy executed Navika Sagar Parikrama in 2017–18. This was the first all-woman Indian crew to circumnavigate the globe skippered by Lieutenant Commander Vartika Joshi aboard the indigenous sailboat INSV Tarini, covering over 21,600 nautical miles.

Fact File of Constitutional and Institutional Firsts