Mohadese Mirzaee

Mohadese Mirzaee (Dari: محدثه میرزایی; born 1998) is an Afghan pilot who became the first woman to fly a commercial airliner in Afghanistan.

Early life and education Mirzaee attended the Afghan Turk Maarif School in Kabul. She was a high achiever in mathematics and science, and described admiring "the complexity of machines" during her youth. As a child, she told her mother that she did not want to work a desk job; her mother suggested she should become a pilot. Her interest in flying subsequently developed at a young age, and she became serious about wishing to enter the profession at the age of fifteen.

Flight training In 2015, Mirzaee travelled to Port Colborne, Canada to complete her secondary education as part of an exchange program, where she signed up for flying lessons to learn the fundamentals. She conducted training in Bulgaria twice a year, in accordance with company practice.

First all-female commercial flight in Afghanistan On 24 February 2021, a crew of two pilots and four cabin crew, with Mirzaee as captain, undertook Afghanistan's first all-female commercial flight. Her copilot was Ukrainian Veronika Borisova.

Lasting 90 minutes, the plane travelled 350 nautical miles from Kabul to Herat.

Fall of Kabul In August 2021, the United States Armed Forces completed their withdrawal from Afghanistan, and Kabul fell to the Taliban.

On 15 August, Mirzaee was preparing for a flight to Istanbul from Kabul airport that was cancelled due to unrest in the city. She instead fled to Kyiv, Ukraine as a passenger, only to be refused entry to the country. However, she believes she will only be able to return if the Taliban "will respect women's rights" and let them "work as [they] did in the past."

Career in Europe Mirzaee's visa expired in November 2021, prompting her to claim asylum. In an interview with Aero Telegraph the following year, Mirzaee described her reaction to airport security officials remarking on her nationality whenever her passport is checked: "Yes, I am from Afghanistan, and I say it proudly." She provided a quote aimed at readers: "Don’t wait! No-one will come and give you your wings if you don’t stand strong. I fought for mine; you will fight for yours".