Flight Lt. Harita Kaur Deol (10 November 1971 – 24 December 1996) was a pilot with the Indian Air Force. She was the first woman pilot to fly solo in the Indian Air Force. The flight was on 2 September 1994 in an Avro HS-748, when she was 22 years old.[1][2][3][4]
Harita Kaur Deol | |
---|---|
Born | 10 November 1971 |
Died | 24 December 1996 Bukkapuram, Prakasam, Andhra Pradesh, India | (aged 25)
Allegiance | India |
Service/ | Indian Air Force |
Hailing from Chandigarh in a Sikh family,[1] in 1993, she became one of the first seven women cadets inducted into the Air Force as Short Service Commission (SSC) officers. This also marked a critical phase in training of women in India as transport pilots.[5] After initial training at Air Force Academy, Dundigul near Hyderabad, she received further training at Air Lift Forces Training Establishment (ALFTE) at Yelahanka Air Force Station.[6]
She died in an aircrash near Nellore on 24 December 1996, at age 24.[5] She was one of 24 Air Force personnel to die when an Indian Air Force Avro aircraft crashed near the Bukkapuram village in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh.[7][8]