NEW DELHI: With four women pilots, Air India's longest direct route flight landed at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru on Monday.
Taking the Atlantic route, the flight covered a distance of about 16,000 kilometres. It flew over the North Pole and reached Karnataka capital at the other end of the world.
The flight number AI176 left San Francisco on Saturday at 8.30pm (local time) and arrived at 3.07am, Air India tweeted today.
#FlyAI : Welcome Home
— Air India (@airindiain) January 10, 2021
Capt Zoya Agarwal, Capt Papagiri Thanmei, Capt Akanksha & Capt Shivani after completing a landmark journey with touchdown @BLRAirport.
Kudos for making Air India proud.
We also congratulate passengers of AI176 for being part of this historic moment. pic.twitter.com/UFUjvvG01h
Air India hailed the women pilots completing a landmark journey and also congratulated the passengers of AI176 for being a part of this historic moment.
"It was an exciting experience since it was never done before. It took almost 17 hours to reach here", said Shivani Manhas, one of the four pilots who operated Air India's inaugural San Francisco-Bengaluru flight.
"Today, we created world history by not only flying over the North Pole but also by having all women pilots who successfully did it. We are extremely happy and proud to be part of it. This route has saved 10 tonnes of fuel," said Captain Zoya Aggarwal speaking with ANI.
It was the longest commercial flight in the world to be operated by Air India or any other airline in India.
The total flight time on this route was more than 17 hours depending on the wind speed, Air India had said in a statement on the eve of the historic flight.
Members of the crew were: Captain Zoya Aggarwal, Captain Papagari Thanmai, Captain Akansha Sonaware and Captain Shivani Manhas.