Jordanian princess becomes country's first female jet pilot
Salma is the first Jordanian woman to complete training for a fixed-wing aircraft, but not the first one to finish pilot training in general.
By TZVI JOFFREA Royal Jordanian Air Force plane takes off from an air base to strike the Islamic state in the Syrian city of Raqqa February 5, 2015. (photo credit: REUTERS)
Jordan’s King Abdullah II presented his daughter, Princess Salma, with her wings after she completed pilot training with the Jordan Armed Forces, according to a press release by the Royal Hashemite Court. The princess, 19, is the first Jordanian woman to complete preliminary pilot training on fixed-wing aircraft.The ceremony at Al Husseiniya Palace in Amman was attended by Queen Rania Al Abdullah and Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II. Maj.-Gen. Yousef Huneiti, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Jordanian Armed Forces, Royal Jordanian Air Force commanders, the commandant of the King Hussein Air College and the wing commander at the college also attended the ceremony.“Brilliant and hard-working as always! Congrats on receiving your wings and here’s to more success and achievements,” wrote the crown prince on his Instagram account.While Salma is the first Jordanian woman to complete training for a fixed-wing aircraft, she is not the first one to finish pilot training in general.Jordan’s first female helicopter pilot, Cadet Aya Basheer Ibrahim Alsourany, was trained in Pennsylvania at the end of 2018, according to the US Army.
