Pune Pilot Maitreyee Shitole Praised for Heroic Actions in Mid-Air Emergency

Air India Express Flight Makes Emergency Landing After Hydraulic Failure; 140 Lives Saved by Pilots’ Quick Thinking

In an extraordinary display of courage and quick thinking, pilots Iqrom Rifadly Fahmi and Maitreyee Shitole saved 140 lives on October 11. The Air India Express flight from Trichy to Sharjah encountered a mid-air malfunction just minutes after takeoff.

With the landing gear failing to retract, the plane was left vulnerable, but the pilots remained calm under pressure. For over two hours, they expertly kept the plane in the air, burning off fuel and staying in constant communication with air traffic control. Finally, they executed a safe emergency landing at Tiruchirapalli Airport.

Days after the incident, praises poured in for Maitreyee Shitole, a co-pilot originally from Kusgaon in Daund Taluka, Pune. Shitole, a graduate of Savitribai Phule Pune University and trained at Mainland Aviation College in New Zealand, has been celebrated as a hero for her skillful handling of the hydraulic failure. Social media was abuzz with admiration, with many commending her professionalism and calm demeanor under pressure.

True heroes don’t always wear capes—some soar through the skies in an aircraft, as Maitreyee Shitole proved during this life-saving ordeal.

Reference:

www.freepressjournal.in