Indian Pilot Becomes 1st Woman to Fly Solo in LSA Over Atlantic - Reports

The feat was achieved by Aarohi Pandit, from the Indian city of Mumbai, on Monday when she landed her tiny aircraft at Iqaluit Airport in Canada, having covered a 3,000 km distance by flight under highly inclement weather conditions after taking off from the city of Wick in Scotland.

New Delhi (Sputnik): A 23-year-old Indian woman has become the world's first female pilot to have crossed the Atlantic Ocean solo in a Light Sports Aircraft (LSA), leaving the India's aviation circles amused, an Indian media report said. Her journey also had brief stopovers in Greenland and Iceland.

— WE Expedition (@WEExpedition) May 14, 2019

​Pandit, who happens to be a commercial pilot and LSA licence holder, left India last July on the Women Empowerment (WE) Expedition in the tiny aircraft Mahi, which is a single-engine Sinus 912 weighing a little over 400 kg. She is also the first LSA registered by the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) India, added the report.

— InUth (@InUthdotcom) May 15, 2019

​"I am so honoured and grateful I could do this for my country and for women everywhere… Flying over the Atlantic Ocean is a humbling experience. It is just you and your little plane, the light blue sky above and dark blue sea or shining white ice below", Indian news portal The Quint quoted Aarohi Pandit as saying.

Pandit, a resident of a suburb in northwest Mumbai, had to undergo an intensive seven-month preparatory training schedule in India, Greenland, Siberia, and Italy over oceans, at high altitudes, in snow, extreme weather conditions, as well as different terrains to test her mental and physical fitness levels, reported The Quint.

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She claims to be an ardent fan of the legendary Amelia Earhart, the first woman to do a transatlantic flight in an aeroplane. Pandit will continue to fly back home to India via Canada and Russia.

After a brief sojourn in Canada, the WE Expedition will continue with Pandit flying westwards to Russia, cross many a longitudes and hurdles, create or break more records, before she finally returns home by 30 July, after clocking in around 37,000 km, added the report.