ABU DHABI // Fatima Al Mansoori is one of the nation’s pioneering female aviators.
The fourth-year student on Abu Dhabi University’s aviation course is also an air force pilot and the first Emirati woman to fly a Lockheed C-130 Hercules turboprop military transport aircraft.
Her credentials put her in a category of elite female pilots that includes her colleague Mariam Al Mansouri, the UAE’s first female fighter pilot.
Ms Al Mansoori’s journey began in 1995 when she joined a military school at the age of 13, then received her pilot’s licence a decade later while attending Emirates’ flight school.
Around that time, she first laid eyes on the C-130 while working for a private flight operator.
“The C-130 was passing by all the time and I told them ‘I am going to fly this airplane,” she said.
After being inspired and receiving support from Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, Ms Al Mansoori joined Khalifa bin Zayed Air College, graduating in 2008.
“There were no girls in the air force, so I became the first cadet pilot,” she said.
Now, at the age of 34, she finds herself in the cockpit as co-pilot of a C-130, where she has flown missions that include shipping medical supplies to countries such as Somalia and Pakistan.
Even as a co-pilot, she decided that she still needed a formal university education, so she signed up for Abu Dhabi University’s aviation programme.
While admitting that there had been challenges, Ms Al Mansoori said she found flying the C-130 manageable.
“It makes no difference if the vehicle is being flown by a male or a female,” she said. Because you’re not using your muscles, you’re using your brain.”
With regards to her being one of the few females in the male-dominated Armed Forces, she said: “You need to be in the group, on the squadron, with the people around you, conserving the culture and the distance between the two genders,” she said. “There is respect and support for us all the way.”
Ms Al Mansoori needs 30 more hours of flying to become a C-130 captain. As for long-term plans, she said she wants to continue her studies and eventually complete a doctorate. From there, she plans to take her career beyond the stratosphere and become the UAE’s first astronaut.
“She will get there, trust me,” said Laurie Earl, ADU’s interim aviation programme director.
“Aviation can take me around the world,” Ms Al Mansoori said.
esamoglou@thenational.ae
