At an age where youths learn to drive a bike or a car, Ayesha Aziz, at the age of 16 got licensed as a pilot. Yes, you read it right! She always dreamt of becoming a pilot and her dream turned into a reality now. At 20 years, she became the youngest pilot in India and is an inspiration to girls across the country.
After becoming a pilot, she said that she is happy to have accomplished her childhood goal.
“More than being India’s youngest pilot, I am happy for having accomplished my childhood goal,” said Ayesha, as reported by The New Indian Express.
Hailing from Mumbai, Ayesha’s penchant for flying started to get more and more deeper whenever she visited her native place, Kashmir. The twice-a-year flight trips to the valley made Ayesha more inspired, motivated and determined to become a pilot when she grew up.
“While I would enjoy take-off and landing of the plane, my brother would be scared and always sleep during the flight,” chimed Ayesha.
She got a lucky chance to visit NASA and meet John McBride. But her most memorable moment was when she met her “second greatest inspiration” – astronaut Sunita Williams.
“I met her when she came to Worli in 2013 or 2014. I shared my experiences with her. I told her about the activities I participated in NASA like scuba diving, moon walk and bunny walk which an astronaut should know,” she added.
The ambitious girl had joined a flying school after she passed high school. She covered all the fundamentals before clearing five viva sessions. When she turned 16 years, she was awarded a student pilot license in November 2013.
However, due to financial crisis, her training in commercial flying got delayed.
When she was at the Bombay Flying Club, she was one of the very few girls studying B.Sc. third year in Aviation.