High school student achieves solo flight as youngest female pilot in Türkiye

BURSA

A 16-year-old high school student from the northwestern province of Bursa has become Türkiye’s youngest female pilot to perform a solo flight.

"To undertake such a flight on the 101st anniversary of the foundation of Türkiye, as the youngest person, is indescribable. It was an incredibly beautiful feeling. I’m following in the footsteps of the first Turkish female pilot, Sabiha Gökçen," Defne Özcan told the press after completing her first solo flight in her single-engine red aircraft.

Like her father, Özcan grew up with a dream of the sky from her childhood. In March 2023, father and daughter joined an amateur aviation certification program at a private flight school to fulfill their dreams and connect with the sky.

After successfully completing the program, which included six hours of flight and ten hours of ground lessons, Defne received her certification and continued her license training. Özcan then went on to complete 18 hours of flight across 13 missions with five instructor pilots, ultimately achieving her first solo flight during her 19th hour.

"Before my first solo flight, I would always watch videos of people who had flown solo. But until you’re up there yourself, it’s not truly possible to grasp what they’ve described. I experienced every emotion they spoke of."

She noted that while aviation would always remain an integral part of her life, her career aspiration, much like her father’s, was to become a mechanical engineer. She added that her decision to fly solo at the age of 16 was not only a personal achievement but also a conscious effort to raise societal awareness.