Captain Zoya Agarwal: First Indian Woman Accepted Into US Aviation Museum

The first Indian woman pilot to fly an aeroplane above the North Pole, traversing a record-breaking distance of around 16,000 kilometres, Captain Zoya Agarwal, a senior Air India pilot flying a Boeing 777, took her place in the SFO aviation museum on Friday.

An all-female Flight India pilot team commanded by Zoya Agarwal flew the world's longest air route from San Francisco (SFO) in the United States to Bengaluru in India for the first time in 2021, crossing the North Pole. In an interview with ANI, Captain Zoya Agarwal revealed that the San Francisco Aviation Luis A Turpen Aviation museum, often known as the SFO Aviation Museum, has never employed a human as a pilot.

Zoya Agarwal Flew Above North Pole

She was humbled to learn that she was the only living thing there. Captain Zoya told ANI that she had trouble believing she was a part of a renowned aircraft museum in the United States. The SFO Museum recently celebrated Indian pilot Zoya Agarwal's remarkable aviation career and her support for women's empowerment around the globe, motivating millions of young women and girls to pursue their ambitions.

She joined the SFO Museum programme as the first female Indian pilot. Her dedication to assisting other girls and women in achieving their objectives are motivating, in addition to her outstanding career with Air India, which included her record-breaking trip from SFO to Bengaluru in 2021 with an all-female crew.

An official from the San Francisco Aviation Museum told ANI that by being able to preserve Captain Agarwal's personal history and share it with current and future generations of aviation fans, SFO Museum would be able to communicate the thrill and the historic aspect of her career.  Captain Zoya Agarwal is one of the UN's spokespersons for gender equality.

When the museum opened at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) in 1980, it did it primarily through the use of photos displayed on walls to enhance and humanise the airport's surroundings. Since then, it has blossomed into a lively exhibition programme with galleries spread out over all five terminals and created a collection of artefacts relating to the history of SFO and commercial aviation that today number more than 150,000.

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According to the International Society of Women Airlines, India has the highest percentage of female pilots in the world. In the meantime, the number of women pilots has significantly increased in India corresponding to about 12.4% of all pilots, as opposed to 5.5% in the US.