Female F16 pilot flies solo in first for Jordan

Saba Al Thiabat made landmark fighter-jet flight from airbase east of Amman

Jordanian pilot Lt Saba Al Thiabat. Photo: Official Jordanian News Agency

A female Jordanian Air Force pilot took to the skies in an F16 fighter jet ― the first such flight by a woman in the kingdom.

Lt Saba Al Thiabat "flew solo in the skies of the kingdom" from the Mouafaq Al Salti Airbase east of Amman, the official news agency said late on Wednesday.

Brig Gen Mohammed Hiasat, head of the Air Force, said: "This achievement represents support by his majesty King Abdullah for the role of women in general and especially military women."

There are few women are in the Jordanian Air Force, which employees 10,000 personnel, although there has been an increased effort in the past two years to recruit women in combat roles in the military.

One of King Abdullah's two daughters, Princess Salma, is a military pilot. The King's sister, Princess Aisha, was also in the army and helped to set up the Directorate of Military Women’s Affairs, in 1995.

King Abdullah headed Special Forces before he took the throne in 1999, succeeding his father, the late king Hussein.

Women comprise 17 per cent of the 104,000 personnel in the Jordanian military. But most of the female personnel are medical staff working at military hospitals.

The Air Force has 44 F16 aircraft and plans to replace them with 16 more advanced versions bought from the US at a cost of $4.2 billion.

In February last year, the US State Department approved the sale of 16 planes to Jordan. A signing ceremony was held in Amman last week.