The honour of being the first woman pilot in the world and changing aviation history forever is widely attributed to Raymonde de Laroche (born Élise Raymonde Deroche), a French aviator who officially received a powered flight pilot’s license on March 8, 1910, issued by the Aero‑Club de France.
Raymonde de Laroche performed her first solo flight in October 1909, under instruction from Charles Voisin, making her the first woman to pilot a powered aircraft — not just as a passenger but actually at the controls.
Some historians point to Thérèse Peltier, another Frenchwoman, who may have flown a powered aircraft as a passenger (and possibly solo) around September 1908, but she did not receive a pilot’s license and her status as a pilot is less documented
The first Indian woman pilot to officially fly an aircraft was Sarla Thukral who earned her “A” license in 1936 at age 21 and flew solo in a Gypsy Moth aircraft — making her one of India’s earliest female aviators.
In terms of formal commercial flying, the first woman in India to obtain a commercial pilot’s licence was Prem Mathur, who received her licence in 1947, began flying for Deccan Airways in Hyderabad, and later joined Indian Airlines in 1953.
Usha Sundaram was the first woman pilot of post‑independence India, graduating in 1949 from the Mysore Government Flight Training School and serving as co‑pilot on VIP and rescue missions, including during Partition.
Durba Banerjee became the first Indian woman commercial pilot to command aircraft with Air Survey India in 1959, later joining Indian Airlines and commanding Boeing 737 turboprops with a total of ~9,000 flight hours.
