Vidushi Gaur

Hana Mohsin Khan is one of the 34 Muslim women pilots in India and is probably the best known because of her powerful social media presence.

Hana’s rise wasn’t easy; she reached this position after pursuing a career in journalism and running an event management company. Growing up as a Muslim woman, Hana faced social challenges and the burden of expectations from society and family.

She completed her schooling in Saudi Arabia after which she sent away to the family’s hometown of Meerut City, Uttar Pradesh, to pursue a college education. While in Saudi Arabia, she lived in a society where women were not treated on par with men; back home, in her Muslim milieu, she was labelled as a “fast girl”.

This prompted her to shift to Delhi for her college.

Hana Mohsin Khan in the cockpit

Hana’s entry into aviation was accidental. She said it was during her meeting with a group of pilots in 2014 in Trivandrum, and while speaking with them, she realised her calling and decided to fly high in the sky.

Hana studied hard to qualify to train as a pilot. No wonder she cleared her written test with flying colours, and after clearing three flying tests, she received her commercial flying license. Later, she went to Florida, USA, for her flight training and to Greece to specialise in flying an Airbus.

In 2020, Hana flew her first commercial flight. “I was praying for a good landing, and it was a good one. I felt so thankful to the universe and to the world for giving me this opportunity. I thought that even if I were to die today, I'd have no regrets."

Hana Mohsin Khan

She feels women should help out one another, “We need all the help we can get, all the women need, all the help after so much we all have gone through, all women in India at least. We hear things about ourselves which are untrue, we get cat-called, harassed on the road, yet we fight, we learn how to fight.”

According to her, retaliation is a many-step process that starts with being scared, which slowly leads to anger and later on becomes action, “Imagine the strength that we have, imagine not being crazy, staying fine, working, behaving like normal human beings, being empathetic, taking care of our families and communities…”

Hana says, “I mustn't be judged for wearing a short skirt or for covering myself from head to toe; either of these choices cannot be forced on me.” She says, “My not wearing a hijab doesn't make me less of a Muslim. We already have it hard as women. And then we are further categorised as Muslim women, and then we have external factors that make it harder to be Muslim. So, it's so much, so many intersectionalities.”

Hana Mohsin Khan with her siblings

Hana narrates an interesting incident to make a point about rampant gender discrimination.

Hana was once performing her ablutions in Jama Masjid when a man came up to her and said that she was doing it the wrong way, as the water didn’t touch the tip of her elbow. She retorted, “Your ablution is null and void as you were busy watching me while doing it”.

She feels airports and aeroplanes make beautiful, humane stories. “The other day, I saw this man who was video calling his wife and showing him the insides of the aircraft. I was walking beside him and saw how happy they were.”

One day, a CISF lady officer complimented Hana, “Madam, your uniform suits you.” Hana replied, “Yours looks perfect on you too, uniform suits all women.' Hana's favourite moment: once, a 5-year-old girl saw Hana in uniform, and she turned to her mother, "Can girls also be pilots?" "Her mother looked at me and said, of course, they can. Hana patted the girl and said, “Sweetheart, if I can, you can too”.

Hana Mohsin Khan with other pilots

Hana uses her social media to help aspiring aviators. In one of her Instagram stories, she answered some 1,000 questions about flying and an aviation career.

Apart from flying, she is a voracious reader, a food enthusiast, a pet mom, and a part-time writer. She feels, “Age is just a number. If you want to do something, then trust me, just go with it, and things will fall into place.”

One of the stories of her flying experiences that she has posted on social media is about the expression of an elderly Haryanvi woman, who saw her in the cockpit while she was flying the Delhi-Gaya flight.

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“An elderly lady wanted to look into the cockpit, and when she saw me, she exclaimed in an Haryanvi accent “, Oi yahan to chorri baithi!” (Oh, a girl is sitting here)

“Could not stop laughing,” she wrote in a post.