21 Year old Girl youngest ATR Captain
 

Bavicca Bharathi, has become the youngest commander in the world at the age of 21.

The record was earlier held by captain Nivedita Bhasin of Indian Airlines who achieved it at the age of 23.

The young girl from Marol, Andheri (East) flew her first flight IT 2439/2440 with Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) on December 29.Employed with Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) since July 2007, Bavicca flew an ATR-72-500 with more than 50 passengers on Bangalore-Hyderabad-Bangalore route.

So how does this youngest commander with 2400 hours of flying feel of her achievement?

“I feel happy and proud of this achievement. I am thankful to God for giving me this opportunity. It makes me feel very responsible,” says Bavicca.“The safety of my aircraft and passengers is foremost in my mind. But I also remembered all those who helped me in making the day possible especially my parents, instructors,” she adds.

Bavicca had been making waves since May 2007 when she became the youngest commercial pilot license (CPL) holder at the age of 18 and then the youngest advanced training pilot license (ATPL) holder in 2010 whilst being employed with KFA as a co-pilot.

Being an avid planner who has charted every record she wants to break. “After this I wish to be the youngest check pilot, instructor and so on,” she speaks of her next move.

Bavicca and her Mother Judith (43) made news in 2007 when they got their CPL together.Both of them then thought of making another record by flying together some day.

“As my mother is a co-pilot in Kingfisher in the same fleet, my next aim is to fly with her. She can be the co-pilot and I, the captain,” she says.

Mind you this intelligent girl not only takes pride in flying planes but also enjoys diverse interests.

“I enjoy painting, singing carnatic and playing the piano. I recently passed Grade 5 Piano from Trinity College, London.Besides flying, I am doing my Masters in Business Administration from a very reputed university in USA,” she says.


21-year-old Marol girl youngest commander in the world - Mumbai - DNA

:D

Good on her,

But worthy of note she is not the first and it is actually not that out of the norm for a Captain to be of the same age as herself.

Good PR I guess though.

PT6A

she sure has set a new record with this new "ATPL" !!
(moron reporters)


... she's also joined another "elite club" ... the ones who somehow manage to get their Licenses issued by DGCA the very same day they apply ! :D

well thats a great achievement for the girl but u cant help but assume something is amiss. her mother got employed by kingfisher at the age of 40 hahaha. that seems a little ludicrous, unless you are part of the airforce or any other services no airline wil employ trainee co pilots above the age of 35. that is usually the norm.

Money and contacts speak all languages in India !.

Bavicca had been making waves since May 2007 when she became the youngest commercial pilot license (CPL) holder at the age of 18 and then the youngest advanced training pilot license (ATPL) holder in 2010 whilst being employed with KFA as a co-pilot.


hmm... i thought ATPL means "Airline Transport Pilot Licence". is it the new way or the old-fashionable way that i was never aware of :(

There is a word starts with P and ends with S....

life is a longdistance run
 

Being the youngest at something is a good start,but its just the begining.
Getting better at something as you gain experience is a more worthwhile goal.

Congratulations!
 

Im sure she deserves to be a captain. I heard in an airline in the philippines that
an
1.> FO had to bring a notebook full of ANSWERS because he couldnt answer one damn question during the initial interview. And still got the job
2.> same FO got released but with one big limitation. FO is only allowed to fly with one person. compared to the other fo's who were released with no limitations. Special treatment?
3.> Allowed to take groundschool training for Captains. even without an ATPL. so apparently you dont need an ATPL to get upgraded
4.> FO does not have the required hours to become Captain and did not get any endorsements from any regular captains.

I guess times have changed. Good luck! :D

Good for the girl!! proud shes an indian!!:D

Ummm....not true please!
 

You've got to be joking!!
I know an Indian boy who got his CPL from Canada on his 17th birthday. He had completed his CPL requirments 2 months before his 17th birthday and had to wait for his birthday to be officially presented the licence. I believe it was a huge event cause the then Prime Minister of Canada(Mooroey,I think) himself presented this lad with the well deserved licence.There was some TV footage too, at that point in time. I do believe this was an all time record!
This young lad went on to fly for Indian Airlines, I think. The reason I know this is that I flew him and his dad way back mebbe in 1983/84 from Toronto to London whilst they were returning back from all the stars and jingles after his son had completed his Cpl and the presentation. And his old man was so proud of his son that he actually requested permission to enter the flight deck enroute and during the course of the conversation, actually showed me the TV footage of his son recieving the award,on his handy mobile VHS video camera! And then went on to narrate the boy's history. Apparently,the father too was a pilot then. And the boy had done his O levels too at some ridicolusly young age(13 or so me thinks....). My F/O and F/E were suitably impressed too with this proud father's enthusiastic son and his phenomenol achievements. If my memory serves me right,the old man was a pilot with Air India. I kept very fond relationships with the family for a few years after which time and tide washed it all away. They were based in the then city of Bombay,now Mumbai....
Have no idea what happened to the young lad,but i'm quite certain he must have gone out and made a mark for himself in the world of aviation. Would be very interesting to know though....
And mind you, this was way back in '83/'84. When the average Cpl age was in the early 30's and the 'younger' ones made it at best in their late 20's.
So it was definitely an achievement of sorts...:)

Wouldn't be possible in the USA...as the minimum ATPL age requirement is 23.

Sounds like an accident waiting to happen....in India.
Category Two can't be far ahead....EU blacklist just waiting, I expect.:{

Interesting... she mentions wanting to fly with her mother.

Our company has a policy that you may not fly with spouses or immediate family. I know many companies out there don't have an issue with it, but what are the more experienced PPRuNers out there think?

My feeling is that it perhaps an additional dynamic into the flight deck. Yes I know we should all act like professionals, however I can't help but feel that this could bring unwanted issues from the ground into the air, no matter how professional the individual.

Bravo 411A for that breathtaking display of prejudice. Is it her age, her sex or her nationality which makes her a dangerous pilot?

Age, and lack of experience.
A bad combination...:ugh:

So 411,
I assume you were never young or wet behind the ears. And if you were a rookie then you were an old rookie. Is that what you so skilfully suggested...
(No offence meant there please...)
Thanks

That's ok 411 for drivers in the RHS - it's expected. We were all
"young or wet behind the ears" as FOs (I only had 1,300 hrs when
I joined a major as a F27 FO)

Put same in the LHS and its a different ball game. Faced with a
dire situation way outside her experience and training she had
better hope there'll be an old "Dan Roman" type in the right seat
should it ever occur.

BTW how the hell did she ever get 2,400 hours by age 21, if
indeed that figure is a true one?

@Slasher
 

In India you get directly employed by the majors as soon as you have your CPL as general aviation is virtually non existant and there are no regionals.

Hence airlines are forced to hire pilots without any experience.

The above mentioned girl was also India's youngest female CPL holder.

She was employed by Kingfisher on the ATR at the age of 18 and had been with them ever since.

she got trained from yash air... now it should speak volumes!!!!

I doubt its yash air that made any difference

She and her mother were at the right place at the right time.

Anyone with a name on a CPL were immediately hired by
the airlines back then :hmm:

She was supposed to join Air India but joined Kingfisher instead

this is a joke. the whole world has thought out a system which is foolproof, but here we have cleverdicks who have to prove that they have the a world record.
what is amazing is that so many agree to a 21 yr old as the capt of a multicrew a/c carrying passengers.
It normally takes an airline many years to assess a pilots ability, maturity, exposure......before giving a pilot their command.
even then, mistakes are made, like the experianced Jet pilot who yesterday ran over a man 4 times over a traffic incident.
stop advertising this stupidity to the whole world on this forum.

you are just jealous because you will never be a captain, and a girl from india got a better position than you.

indian girls rock!!!:ok:

A380 Jockey, That young boy today is flying 777 for Air India. He did a stint with SilkAir under the leave without pay scheme of Air India in the late early 2000 and came back to Air India in 2006. His father was an Air Force pilot who was flying 747 classics in Air India at that time and retired in 2007.

Thanks 7xx.
Hope its the same young lad we're both talking about. Sounds about right. He should've become an astronaut or something. Was a smart kid too. IF its the same lad,you can always say my hey to him. He'll remember me as Arthur. And he sure as hell will. Cause I let him manuveur my plane in cruize!
You could,in those days you know...:cool:
Any idea what happened of his ol' man
Cheers

Well if anyone is interested

I heard a 22 year old first officer got promoted to A320 Captain in Indigo in last december :D

Hey 7xx,
I just managed to trace down this 17 year old indian boy fresh from pilots training school who i flew down way back in '83 on his completion of Cpl. I used some old indian contacts of mine that i had nurtured over the years. Found out that he's not with AI after all,rather a senior captain with SIA. Why am i not surprised. Only the best end up with SIA.
Thanks for trying though. We did refresh some old memories with his ol man though....:)

Congratulations to the new captain on attaining her command. Anyone who attains a command at that age must be very proud.....HOWEVER, where is the experience? One definition for experience is how often have you frightened yourself and got away with it. If you fly ILS to ILS, reasonable weather and everything works you will probably have a long boring career. It is the dark and dirty nights with multiple MELS, black hole approaches that really put you to the test. Add to that, pushy gate agents/station managers, argumentative passengers ( heaven knows India has its fair share of those ) a new first officer who just made it through and the holes in the cheese start to line up.

Good luck to the new commander and many happy landings.

Well said....Ndicho Moja.....:ok::D:D

good luck to her...all the best...happy landings...:}

You must remember that in India , the system is very different.After your CPL you end up on the right seat of an ATR or 737/320 or even a 777.Due to the rapid expansion there is a huge requirement for Captains and many are being upgraded rapidly.Some of the Indian Captains who got their Captaincy at a very young age have done very well for themselves.And some not so , as many have even struggled to get through the sim evaluations of many foreign airlines despite a few 1000 hrs from the LHS.From my experience ,it's quite a sticky situation.Quite a few of the new Captains have been caught in various close calls and this is due to the basics being wrong and the lack of experience.Hope some one will wake up to the situation very soon.As for this young lady , good for her but what was mentioned was quite factually incorrect.:ok:

Isnt there a saying..."there is no short cut to success"?
Personally i'd rather be "good" than "young" in this job.

i see a lot of people wishing each other good luck with their career on this thread. well, thats nice, but luck has nothing to do with staying alive so your passengers may live too.
its pure hard work, learning or observing the finer points from your seniors, and a healthy dose of CFS......common f.....g sense.
to effectively experiance the many situations that a pilot may encounter, takes many years in a cockpit, and over even more drinks at the bar. even then, when an emergency does turn up, all the simulators and planning in the world may not be of much use.
the word here is composure, and that comes with handling situation after situation over the years.
the worst case scenario in a captains career is when he is shooting a canpa in a thunderstorm with an f/o named Jose, and unfamiliar terrain all around on an engine out.
thats when you have really earned your salary and a beer. luck has nothing to do with it.:):)

Well said rdr , couldn't agree with you more.It's important to get the guys with the "Right Stuff" into the cockpit.Anyone else will be a liability at some point in time.:ok:

So we can safely assume that rdr and sky dancer were NEVER a liability in the cockpit!
Born with golden wings were you..??!!
THAT's what trainers are meant for sky dancer..
To train to an acceptable level,so that nobody is a 'liability' in the cockpit.
Remember,one day,YOU could be the liability ..:)

A380 Jockey So we can safely assume that rdr and sky dancer were NEVER a liability in the cockpit!

jock who is WE ?? and how do you come to such a safe assumption when you do not know either of us ??

Born with golden wings were you..??!!

well yes, there was always a pair around the house all my life, and i keep being given these shiny ones to pin on.


THAT's what trainers are meant for sky dancer..
To train to an acceptable level,so that nobody is a 'liability' in the cockpit.
Remember,one day,YOU could be the liability


now a lecture on the training element and aviation safety. from your posts, i realise that you are one of those uptight instructors who runs home with the ball midway in a match when his mama calls.

there has been zero substance in your post to support the theory that it is okay to hand a command to a 21 year old. (why not 15) which is what this general debate is about. instead, you choose to go personal. nobody targetted individuals except you in this thread, even a few days before your last post. this, in my opinion, is a character flaw which you will have to live with.

Rdr,
My post is amply relevant to ur last post.
And try and get your diction and grammar right before you post please. It helps readers understand,what might quite easily be mistaken for ramblings of a senile man. Just my 2 cents worth. Now off you go son. And take your rubber duckie with you will ya...:)

and now a lesson in grammar and english.

I hope to apply for Indian RT or FRTO required age is 18....how could she get CPL at the age of 18 ?

Mmmmm

Another Airline on my won't fly list.

They must be bloody joking?

Well good luck girl because you're going to need lots of it to make up for your very low experience.

And yes I too had my PPL at 17, CPL at 18 blah blah. But there is no way in hell I was ready to command a 70 Pax 30 tonne missile. Especially with an FO that most likely would have had even less experience than me!!

@nitpicker : u seem to be reeking of confidence ( pun intended ) ! just because u never had the confidence to pilot a 30 tonne aircraft at a young age dosent mean no one should . That girl didnt just jump into the LHS directly , she did her fair share of hard work and put in the effort and now she deserves it . Allrite let me put it this way , though ur national airline Qantas has the most experienced captains and blah blah blah... its still in everybody's no fly list aint it ?? :}

I dont work for Qantas but if I did i would be proud of them.:ok:

It wasn't a confidence thing back when i was 21. I realised that I had to "walk before I could run"

I spent quite a few years in the right seat of Fokkers and Boeings and had a fair bit of maturity before I upgraded to the LHS and every one of those years were invaluable. The experience gained in actual operations watching the experienced guys in the LHS were priceless and anyone that thinks they can just step in and do it is fooling themselves and the travelling public that trust in them.

As a poster mentioned above there are many many challenges that can present themselves at the most inappropriate time and I only hope that the swiss cheese holes ( her's being much much bigger holes ) don't align themselves over India one dark stormy night.

Good luck to her, she's gunna need it more than once in India!!