7 Mar :To celebrate Women’s Day on 8 March 2010, Air India will make history by using only women pilots to fly Ultra Longhaul flight AI-141 from Mumbai to JFK non-stop on, using a B777-200 Long Range aircraft. The flight is approximately of 14 hours duration and will be operated with a double set of all women crew and supported by women of the National Aviation Company India Limited (NACIL).
Capt. Rashmi Miranda and Capt. Sunita Narula will be the Commanders alongwith Capt. Swati Rawal and Capt. Neha Kulkarni as First Officers. Mrs. Harpreet A De Singh, Head-QMS will carry out a Line Observation Safety Audit, the flight will be despatched by Ms. Nandita Deshpande and the Load and Trim Sheet will be prepared by Ms. Ferzin Kuruvilla. Various additional flights will also be operated by All Women Crew on that day. On the Airbus A310, Capt. Trisha Mohan will operate as the Commander of AI 815/816 from Hyderabad-Damam-Chennai along with First Officer Capt. Thanmai Papagari. Other flights from Mumbai to be operated with All Women Crew will be IC-686, IC-105 and IC-129. Capt. S. Deshmukh, Capt. Sangita Bangar and Capt. L. Nagrath will be the Commanders and Capt. Rikita Singh, Capt. Deepali Pratape and Capt. Aprajita Lal the First Officers. The flights will be despatched by Ms. Anjali Dhiman and the Load and Trim Sheet will be prepared by Ms. Archana Patki. In the Southern Region, Capt. Deepa will operate IC 573/574 accompanied by First Officer, Capt. Sonia Jain on Chennai-Colombo-Chennai sector. The Northern and Eastern Regions also operated with All Women crew on various sectors.
Ms. Neetu Sharma who is an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer (AME) on the B737-800, in Air India Express, will certify the aircraft from Sharjah. Lady Doctors Dr Varsha Sawant and Dr Alka Mathur will carry out the breathalyzer tests at Mumbai.
NACIL has more than 136 women pilots flying various international and domestic sectors. Women Pilots, Flight Despatchers, Aircraft Maintenance Engineers, Safety and Quality Auditors, Cabin Crew, Doctors, Technical Officers, Simulator Maintenance Engineers, Ground Instructors for training pilots etc. all form part of a highly skilled, technically proficient team of women in Air India.