19. Avani Chaturvedi

Avani Chaturvedi is one of the first female fighter pilots of India. She is from Satna district in Madhya Pradesh. She was declared as the first combat pilot along with two of her cohort, Mohana Singh, and Bhawana Kant. The trio was inducted into the Indian Air Force fighter squadron in June 2016. They were formally commissioned by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar. Chaturvedi completed her training at Hyderabad Air Force Academy. She completed her schooling from Deoland, a small town in Shahdol district of Madhya Pradesh.Completing her Bachelors in Technology from Banas thali University, Rajasthan in 2014, she passed the Indian Air Force exam. Avani was born on 27 October 1993. Her father, Mr. Dinkar Chaturvedi, is an executive engineer in Water Resource Department of M.P. government and her mother is a home maker. Avani's elder brother is also an army officer. Chaturvedi likes to play chess, table tennis and to do sketching and painting. She was highly inspired by her elder brother and she also had a few hours of flying experience in the flying club of her college, which inspired her to join the IAF. After completing one year of rigorous training at Air Force Academy at Dundigal (Hyderabad), she became a fighter pilot in June 2016. Once she completes Stage III training at Bidar in adjoining Karnataka next year, they will be able to fly fighter jets like the Sukhoi and Tejas.. In 2018, she became the first Indian woman pilot to take a solo flight in a MiG-21.