SHOCK! Would You Fly On An Airliner If She Was Your Pilot?
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Now, this is something you don’t see every day.
Syed Ashfaq Ahmed, who is a bakery worker of modest means, never thought his daughter could realize her dream and become a pilot one day. He was aware of her fascination for flying and Airplanes but with his poor earnings in India, he could never think of ever being able to help her fulfill her life’s dream of becoming a pilot.
But everything changed when she appeared at the EAMCET coaching at an institute. “What will you like to become”, the instructor asked, and he couldn’t believe his ears when the girl said “A Pilot.” Although everyone who heard her was amused by her answer and they dismissed it as a childish idea. Zahid Ali Khan, Editor of the Urdu Daily, Siasat, believed Salwa when he saw the determination in her eyes when she said it. And it was he who offered her moral and financial support initially to realize her dream.
He encouraged and groomed Salwa. But the support didn’t stop there when he used his vast influence to get her admitted to the Andhra Pradesh Aviation Academy in 2007. After that, she was unstoppable and Salwa is now busy appearing for interviews of various airlines in Delhi and is hopeful of landing a job soon.
She was recently asked if being a woman makes piloting difficult? To which she replied, “Not at all. The aircraft doesn’t know or care about your gender. You just have to perform.”
As a liberated woman, it’s a pity she won’t go as far as to ditch the traditional Muslim Hajib she is forced to wear. If we want to talk about gender and equality it’s hard not to bring a fact like that to light. Her culture tells her she can’t show other men her head and that she needs to wear modest clothing but she is worried about equality? Seems a bit far-fetched don’t you agree?
Here is more on this extraordinary woman via First Post
“New Delhi: Syed Ashfaq Ahmed, a daily wage bakery worker in Hyderabad, had never imagined his 26-year-old daughter would become a pilot. But thanks to her determination and will power, Syeda Salva Fatima is now Captain Syeda Salva Fatima, and effectively one of the few Muslim women in India to hold the commercial pilot’s licence.
Fatima never allowed her abject poverty to come an obstacle on her way to success and the story of how she accomplished this feat can serve as an example for many.
While in school, Fatima would collect articles published in newspapers about aviation and pore over photos of aircrafts for hours. After completing pre-university, she took admission in an institute which offered free coaching for the Engineering, Agriculture and Medical Common Entrance Test (EAMCET). At the inaugural ceremony of the batch, the instructor of the institute asked Fatima, “What do you like to become?”
Fatima says she’s still hopeful of funding her training.
Her prompt reply surprised everyone, including chief guest Zahid Ali Khan – the editor of Urdu daily Siasat: “Pilot.” An impressed Khan asked to meet him later.
“After listening to my story, Zahid Ali Khan sir offered me financial support to undergo the pilot training. I could not believe my ears; it was like a dream come true. I fall short of words to thank him,” Fatima told Firstpost over the telephone.
She underwent five years of rigorous training at Andhra Pradesh Aviation Academy and got her Commercial Pilot’s License, Private Pilot’s License and Flight Radio Telephone Operator License. She has logged 200 hours of flying on a Cessna 152 and 172, including 123 hours of solo flight.
But she still has to cross one more milestone to achieve her dream. She is required to undergo Type Rating, an additional training apart from the initial license and aircraft class training, on a specific aircraft like a Boeing or Airbus to be able to fly any aircraft. The training costs around Rs 30-32 lakh, which she cannot even think of paying for.
However, she has not given up and has written to Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju for help.
“I am awaiting for the minister’s response. Let’s hope for the best,” she added.
When asked what inspired her to choose the male-dominated aviation sector, she replied, “I wanted to do something different and entering this industry was my passion.”
Asked if she had ever imagined that she would reach this far, Fatima said, “It was my dream but I had never thought that it would come true because of my financial condition. My father has to struggle to make two ends meet.”