This 20-Year-Old Woman Could Be India’s Youngest Pilot Ever

From childhood, 20-year-old Ayesha Aziz of Mumbai has always wanted to be a pilot. This year, she is on track to become one of India’s youngest female pilots.

When she was 16, Aziz began flight training at the Bombay Flying Club in 2011 and earned her student pilot license. She would attend school during the week and take flying lessons on the weekends, flying the Cessna 152 and 172 aircraft.

Aziz told Mashable:

“I love adventure, travel and meeting new people. I wanted to do something unconventional, and working as a pilot seemed especially unconventional.”

She fell in love with planes as child watching aircraft take off and land.

“Flying works against gravity, you give up everything that gets you down,” she said.

Aziz has so far flown 120 of the 200 flying hours needed to get a commercial pilot license — from there she will be able to apply to work at an airline.

As a young woman pursuing her dream career, she looks up to astronaut Sunita Williams and gives thanks to her parents who kept “motivating and pushing” her.

Without a doubt, this driven woman is set to have a promising career in aviation and she is certainly up for the challenge:

“It is challenging to be a pilot. You always have to be ahead of the aircraft and quick to take decisions. You need presence of mind and you need to multi-task. When you’re inside a cockpit all your worries have to be left behind, and your mind should be focused on what you’re doing at that moment.”

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