Women pilots organisation to celebrate 100 yrs of Indian civil aviation

Isabelle McCray, a USA-based flying nurse on a ship transiting through the port of Bombay, stopped at the Bombay Flying Club in 1966. She was surprised to see sari-clad women checking fuel tanks and readying their aircraft for flights on the runway near the fishing village of Juhu. McCray befriended these women pilots and invited them to join the International Organisation of Women Pilots (IOWP) known as the 99s.

Five of these pilots were sponsored by the IOWP and within a year the Indian Women Pilots Association (IWPA) and the 99s’ India chapter took shape. The group has come a long way since then and currently has a membership of more than 150 women pilots.

Next month, the 99s will be celebrating 100 years of civil aviation with a conference organised jointly by the Indian and international women pilots’ organisations which will be attended by aviators from the country and abroad. “The idea is to share the passion of flight and the pride of being a woman aviator,” said Chanda Sawant Budhabhatti, who was instrumental in starting the organisation after being rejected for the post of co-pilot several times by airlines in India. Chanda and four others, Mohini Shroff, Rabia Fatehally, Sunila Bhajekar and Capt Durba Banerjee, were the five women sponsored by IOWP back in 1960s.

The group believes that in this day and age, when the Indian airline industry is welcoming more women pilots into the fold, their job is to reach out to the increasing number of women who love to fly. “Though we are a pilots’ organisation, our membership is open to air traffic controllers, flight dispatchers, engineers, airport managers, sky divers, educators, students, and just about anyone else interested in aviation,” she adds.