Indian President Pratibha Patil on Wednesday became the first woman leader in history to fly in an Air Force fighter jet.
Patil, 74, left the Lohegaon Air Force base near Pune in western India on a two-seat Su-30MKI for a 30-minute flight, where she was decked out in a G-force grey suit for her 0.9 Mac (700-800 km/hr) flight.
Patil's fighter jet was escorted by two additional fighters so she could get a feel of how the planes fly and look in tactical operations. Her flight was broadcast live over national television.
Wing Commander S. Sajan was the pilot of the president's fighter.
Patil three months earlier stated she would like to fly in a fighter jet and immediately began training for the feat, including physical preparation and briefings on the aircraft's instruments. She was also instructed as to what she could and could not touch inside the cockpit.
"President Patil has been found medically absolutely fit to undertake this flight," Indian Air Force Wing Commander T.K. Singha told IANS before the flight.
"She (Patil) is doing it to inspire the whole country and underline women's empowerment - a subject which is close to her heart," Patil's daughter Jyoti Rathore had told Times of India last week in an interview.
The Indian Air Force currently has 784 women officers working in different branches, but at present they are barred from the fighter stream, Hindustan Times reported.
NEW DELHI, November 25 (RIA Novosti)
