Bhawna Chaudhary: India's Border Security Force Gets First Woman Flight Engineer

In a significant stride toward challenging gendered stereotypes within India’s paramilitary forces, the Border Security Force (BSF) air wing has inducted its first woman flight engineer, Bhawna Chaudhary. She was one of five subordinate officers, four men and herself, to complete the inaugural in-house flight engineer training. BSF Director General Daljit Singh Chawdhary officially marked this historic occasion by presenting the group with their flying badges at a ceremony in New Delhi.

The official BSF India’s account highlighted the training’s success in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

BSF Air Wing successfully conducted in house ab-initio training of Flight Engineers.
Five trainee Flight Engineers including one Mahila SO, were awarded flying brevets by DG BSF during the Valedictory Function conducted at New Delhi.#JaiHind#BSFAirWingpic.twitter.com/yDLLPpDUZD

— BSF (@BSF_India) October 10, 2025

BSF's Air Wing

The BSF, which has been in charge of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) aviation unit for over five decades since 1969, supplies air support for various paramilitary and specialized groups, including the National Security Guard (NSG) and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). The unit operates a mixed fleet that includes the Mi-17 IV, Mi-17 V5, Cheetah, and ALH Dhruv helicopters, alongside a fixed-wing Embraer jet used for VIP transport.

This new training program was necessitated by an operational requirement. An official explained that the BSF air wing faced "a critical shortage of flight engineers in its Mi-17 helicopter fleet." While a previous cohort of three subordinate officers was trained by the Indian Air Force (IAF) securing training slots there for the new batch proved impossible "due to various constraints."

In-house Training 

Consequently, the BSF’s in-house instructors took on the challenge, training the five personnel ab-initio. As reported by the news agency PTI, "the five subordinate officers were trained ab-initio by the instructors of the BSF air wing and they recently completed their two-month long training."

The demanding two-month program, which began in August, included 130 hours of skill development. The trainees earned valuable real-world experience as BSF aircraft conducted operational sorties, notably during recent disaster relief efforts involving floods in Punjab and other states. The curriculum emphasized not only flight proficiency but also comprehensive technical knowledge and emergency response protocols, preparing the new flight engineers for critical airborne responsibilities.

During the presentation, DG Daljit Singh Chawdhary praised the officers’ dedication, noting that "Their success is a testament to the BSF’s evolving aviation capabilities and commitment to gender inclusivity."