In a historic first for India, an women crew will pilot Air India’s longest non-stop commercial flight from San Franscisco to Bengaluru which will last more than 17 hours.
The flight departed San Francisco at 8.30pm (local time) Saturday, and lands at Bengaluru’s Kempegoda International Airport at 3.45am (local time) on January 11, 2021. The crew is made up of Captain Zoya Aggarwal, Capt Papagari Thanmai, Capt Akanksha Sonawane, and Capt Shivani Manhas.
Captain Zoya Aggarwal, the lead pilot on flight AI 176 said it would be a 16,000-odd km. “So, we are looking at world’s longest flight. And yes, we are going to try and fly the polar route – over the North Pole,” she said. “However, it depends on multitude of factors like solar radiations and the turbulence. So, we are going to sit tight and hope that we will go polar and break all sorts of records.”
Captain Papagari Thanmai, one of the four pilots, told NDTV that the route will be San Francisco-Seattle-Vancouver. “We would be going as high as 82-degrees north. Technically, we aren’t flying right over the pole, but we are right next to it. And then we come south, most probably over Russia, and further down south to Bengaluru.” Captain Nivedita Bhasin, Air India Executive Director of Flight Safety, is also on the flight.
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The Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh commended the all-women Air India flight. “Way to go girl!” he tweeted. “Professional, qualified and confident, the all-women cockpit crew takes off from San Francisco to Bengaluru on @airindians flight to fly over the North Pole. Our Nari Shakti achieves a historic first.” Singh said Air India’s woman power flies high around the world and it was a historic inaugural flight between the two cities. “Air India’s woman power flies high around the world.”
