Sneha Baskaran of Chennai, India has become New Zealand’s first international student to win a prestigious competition at the annual rally of the New Zealand Association of Women in Aviation this year.
Sneha with the Morane Saulnier Rallye Trophy she won at the annual rally of the New Zealand Association of Women in Aviation.
The Morane Saulnier Rallye Trophy competition is a challenging feat that tests pilots’ skills in a simulated forced landing (with a powered-down engine) from 2500 feet, with aircraft wheels needing to precisely touch a designated grid on the runway.
Sneha was the only participant who achieved the feat.
The forced landing requires precision, skill and staying calm under pressure and highlights practical skills required in aviation by challenging participants to perform under simulated emergency conditions.
Sneha was absolutely “thrilled and exhilarated” to win the trophy.
“I am grateful to have been included in the competition, they didn’t just see me as an international student.
“It feels special to win a competition going back to 1963, and to see my name engraved on the trophy alongside all the winners from New Zealand,” she says.
A trainee pilot who has been enrolled at the New Zealand Airline Academy in Oamaru since January last year, Sneha received a commercial pilot licence in New Zealand in August after completing her final test.
Sneha receives two stripe epaulettes after completing the commercial pilot flight test from Julie Vaughan (A-cat) flight test examiner.
She is now looking forward to returning to India, where she will convert her New Zealand commercial pilot licence to an Indian one, and work for an airline in the country.
