Plane Lands In Saudi Arabia By An All Female Crew

The Ladies are taking over. Oh Yeah!!!!!! So, while surfing the web earlier today, i came across this fascinating report and thought to share.

A flight crew comprising of only females, landed a plane for Royal Brunei Airline in Saudi Arabia. The flight originated from Brunei and was heading to Jeddah.

To mark Brunei’s National Day, which celebrates the country’s independence, Captain Sharifah Czarena Surainy Syed Hashim, Senior First Officer Dk Nadiah Pg Khashiem and Senior First Officer Sariana Nordin flew flight BI081, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, to the Middle Eastern country on 23 February. The occasion came just over three years after Captain Czarena became the first female captain of a flag carrier in Southeast Asia. She told The Brunei Times in 2012: “Being a pilot, people normally see it as being a male dominant occupation. As a woman, a Bruneian woman, it is such a great achievement. It’s really showing the younger generation or the girls especially that whatever they dream of, they can achieve it,” said the captain, who completed her initial pilot training at the Cabair Flying School in Cranfield (INDEPENDENT NEWS).

What's even more astonishing is that although this can be considered (and it should be) a milestone for the airline, women are still not eligible to drive in Saudi Arabia. So the female crew will need to be driven out of the airport by a man. 

They can fly a plane but can't drive a car.

Although there is no law that prohibits women from driving, it is a rule imposed by conservative Muslim clerics (INDEPENDENT NEWS).

Last year, women were allowed to stand in elections for the first time in Saudi, and they were able to vote (THE TELEGRAPH).

All female crews are becoming more common as more women train to be pilots – several international airlines were able to operate long-haul flights staffed by female pilots to coincide with Women of Aviation Worldwide Week (March 7 – 13). Although there’s still a long way to go. Estimates from the International Society of Women Airline Pilots (ISA) last year suggested there are about 4,000 women pilots worldwide, out of around 130,000, which is just over three percent (METRO).