A First In The IAF: Father And Daughter Flying In Formation

At Air Force Station Bidar in Karnataka, Air Commodore Sanjay Sharma and his daughter Flying Officer Ananya Sharma made aviation history by flying in formation in a Hawk-132 plane.

In December of last year, Flying Officer Ananya Sharma, who has been receiving her training at Air Force Station Bidar, was commissioned into the force.

She will be placed aboard faster, more advanced fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force after training.

This is the first operation where a parent and his daughter were in the same fighter formation.

“Air Commodore Sanjay and Flying Officer Ananya were more than just father and daughter on that flight. They were friends who fully trusted one another, just as fellow wingmen would “a member of the Indian Air Force stated.

Air Commodore Sharna, who has a wealth of experience in fighter operations, was commissioned into the IAF’s fighter stream in 1989. He had led both a frontline fighter station and a Mig-21 Squadron.

Ananya was raised in a setting where she may have envisioned fitting in. She realised that her long-held ambition might finally come true when the government declared that female officers would be admitted into the fighter stream of the force.

She has a B.Tech. in electronics and communication, and in 2021, she will begin training for the IAF’s flying branch.