Open Skies: My Life as Afghanistan's First Female Pilot by Niloofar Rahmani & Adam Sikes

Author:Niloofar Rahmani & Adam Sikes [Rahmani, Niloofar & Sikes, Adam]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biography & Autobiography, women, Aviation & Nautical
ISBN: 9781641603379
Google: oQT3DwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Published: 2021-07-06T23:36:52.531520+00:00

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Later that afternoon, we started in-processing; the first step was a medical examination. All eight of us had volunteered for pilot training, so our medical exams would be flight physicals. These exams would be much more comprehensive than the typical military physical because the air force needed to determine if our bodies could handle the stress of flying. We would undergo the same exam given to the men.

At the hospital, we reported to the chief of staff, Dr. Rasool, a stern man in his late fifties who had a beard a fist long (the minimum length for a beard under the Taliban). Dr. Rasool called us into his office and started asking questions about why we wanted to be pilots, making snide remarks about how women should be at home caring for the family. He made fun of us, saying we were too small and weak to fly, that even if we did pass the physical, we’d never make it through training.

We couldn’t do anything but stand there and take it, answering Dr. Rasool’s questions simply and directly. He begrudgingly divided us into pairs and sent us to different departments for our exams. It was humiliating.

In Afghan society, only women are supposed to examine other women, but there were no female doctors in this hospital, only two elderly female nurses. Men would have to perform the exams, and some of the tests would be quite invasive. It was going to be very uncomfortable, but I told myself it had to be done. I’d have to overcome a lot more than this if I was going to fly military airplanes.

They started with basic measurements like height and weight, then performed vision, hearing, blood, and urine tests; X-rays; joint and muscle exams; and so on. I’d never had men around me in this way, doing these types of things, touching my body, but I kept telling myself not to flinch.

When it finally came time for heart and chest examinations, we—the seven other women and I—asked the female nurses to be the ones to set up the sensors on our bodies. We couldn’t let the men see us unclothed. The male doctors could administer the tests once we were covered back up, but we couldn’t let them see us exposed and touch us in such a way.

Fortunately, the doctors agreed and we completed the flight exams. I was very glad to put my uniform back on, no longer being poked and prodded.

Afterward, the eight of us waited for the exam results outside Dr. Rasool’s office. As the chief of staff, he would deliver them. He called me into his office first. I fortified my demeanor as I’d been trained, marched in, and stood at attention in front of his desk.

I could see my medical folder in front of him. He looked me directly in the face, but in his eyes I detected a sense of cruel satisfaction. He told me I had a heart condition that would prevent me from becoming a pilot.

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