Moreover, during the early stages of Covid-19, Mahasweta Chakraborty was also a part of the emergency operation 'Vande Bharat'.
Digital Desk: A 24-year-old pilot from Kolkata's New Town is making headlines over the internet after she rescued over 800 Indian students stranded in Ukraine's Polish and Hungarian borders and safely returned them home.
Reportedly, between February 27 and March 7, Mahasweta Chakraborty, a member of 'Operation Ganga,' flew four evacuation flights from Poland and two from Hungary to rescue stranded Indian students during the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
"It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, rescuing those students in their late teens and early twenties, many of whom had fallen sick and had traumatising survival stories," Chakraborty told the Times of India in an interview.
"I salute their tenacity and am immensely proud to have played a role in their return home," she added.
Reportedly, the pilot has flown for a private Indian carrier for the past four years.
Mahasweta Chakraborty received a late-night call from her airline informing her that she had been selected to fly the aircraft on this rescue mission. "I packed my belongings in two hours and left. Then, I flew to Istanbul, two and a half hours from Poland, where we were told to carry out the rescue operation," She stated.
Aside from Air India, airlines such as IndiGo and SpiceJet joined India's efforts to rescue stranded Indians as part of 'Operation Ganga,' in which the country operated over 75 flights to return Indian nationals.
The Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi graduate recalls how traumatised the students were after flying for 13-14 hours. "We offered them food and drinks, but they refused even to drink water. All they wanted to do was go home," She continued.
Moreover, during the early stages of Covid-19, Chakraborty was also a part of the emergency operation 'Vande Bharat,' and she is grateful for the contribution she was able to make to society.
"But the true heroes are these young students who overcame hunger, thirst, death threats, extreme weather, and career uncertainty to flee the war-torn country," Chakraborty said.
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