Bengaluru: India's ace badminton player P.V. Sindhu Saturday flew HAL's Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas at the ongoing Aero India air show here.
"Sindhu will co-pilot the Tejas aircraft as part of the Women's Day to be observed at the air show on Saturday," a Defence Ministry official had said on Friday.
Tejas, built by the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), is a single-engine multirole light fighter.
Speaking to the media, PV Sindhu said "I'm 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."
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.
Women's Day, observed today at the expo, showcased women's achievements in the aerospace sector.
Three women IAF fighter pilots are also flew the Hawk-I advanced jet trainer of BAE Systems plc and an upgraded version of the Russian-made MiG-21.
Women achievers in the sector were felicitated on the occasion and a book and film on 'Women in Aviation' will be released.
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