India’s badminton ace, P.V. Sindhu, has been flying high in the badminton circuit. But it was a different experience for her on Saturday as she flew high on a made in India light combat aircraft (LCA), the Tejas, as co-pilot during the Aero India 2019 in Bengaluru.
Sindhu wore a green uniform, as she climbed up the ladder to enter the cockpit of the aircraft. She also waved before entering the aircraft. Tejas, built by the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), is a single-engine multirole light fighter.
“I am honoured to have taken this flight. The captain showed me all the maneuvers. He did all the loops and rolls, and flew for about 5mins. Special thanks for DRDO for making this happen. Women's Day celebrations at the expo gave me this opportunity and will definitely remember this forever,” Sindhu said.
The aircraft received its final operational clearance (FOC) on Wednesday from military aviation regulator Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification (Cemilac) for induction into the Indian Air Force (IAF) as a weaponised fighter jet in its operational fleet.
The homegrown aircraft was flown by the Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat on Thursday, who hailed it as a wonderful aircraft.
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