Meet Kolkata's 24-year-old pilot who evacuated 800 Indians from Ukraine

New Delhi: Amid Russia-Ukraine war, a 24-year-old pilot from Kolkata's New Town is in the headlines and these days, the pilot seems to be dominating the internet. People are praising her bravery, as she has saved more than 800 Indian students which were stranded in Ukraine by bringing them back home safely.

Mahasweta Chakraborty, a member of 'Operation Ganga', flew six evacuation flights, including four from Poland and two from Hungary, between February 27 and March 7, to rescue stranded students amid the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

"It was a life-time experience as I rescued students, many of whom had fallen ill and had traumatic stories of survival. Most of them were around the age of 20. I salute their fighting spirit for life. Also, feeling extremely proud to play a part in their homecoming journey,'' Chakraborty was quoted as saying in an interview.

According to her, the real heroes are these young students, who fought hunger, thirst, death threats, bad weather and career uncertainty to escape a war-torn country.

She Packed Her Bag Within Two Hours And Left

Chakraborty, has been flying a private Indian carrier for the last four years. Chakraborty got a call from his airline late last night and was informed that he had been selected to fly the plane on this rescue mission.

"I packed up and left in two hours. I took a two-and-a-half-hour flight from Poland to Istanbul, from where we were instructed to carry out rescue operations," she said.

Students Were So Shocked

Reportedly, apart from Air India, airlines like Indigo and SpiceJet also joined India's efforts to rescue stranded Indians under 'Operation Ganga', in which the country operated more than 75 flights to bring back Indian nationals.

Chakraborty, a graduate of Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Udan Academy, flew for 13-14 hours. She told that the students were so shocked. We gave them food and drink, but they did not want to drink even water. They just wanted to go home.

The Kolkata-based pilot is also the daughter of Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) West Bengal Mahila Morcha President Tanuja Chakraborty.

Prior to this mission, Chakraborty was also a part of the emergency operation 'Vande Bharat' during the initial phase of COVID-19.

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