Tolulope Arotile, the celebrated Nigerian Air Force’s first female combat helicopter pilot, died in a road accident at Nigerian Air Force Base, Kaduna.
The NAF said Arotile, died on Tuesday as a result of head injuries sustained from the accident.
Apart from being the first female combat helicopter pilot, there are many other things about the late pilot you probably don’t know and we have highlighted some of them here:
- Tolulope Arotile, a native of Iffe area in Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi State, was born in 1995.
- Arotile attended the Air Force Primary and Secondary Schools in Kaduna.
- She joined the Nigerian Air Force 401 Flying training school Kaduna on the 22nd of December 2012.
- In 2017, she graduated from the Nigerian Airforce 401 training school Kaduna and became an officer in the force on the 16th of September 2017.
- She was selected to train in South Africa following her performance during her initial flying training course at 401 Flying Training School Kaduna.
- As of 15 October 2019, she has acquired 460 hours of flight within 14 months in helicopter.
- Arotile was decorated the first female fighter helicopter pilot the Nigerian Airforce has had in 55 years.
- She was decorated by the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs (Dame) Pauline Tallen and the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar in October, 2019.
- Barely a year, she was winged as Nigeria’s first ever female combat helicopter pilot, Arotile dies in a road accident in Kaduna at the age of 24.
- During her short but impactful stay in the Service, late Arotile, contributed significantly to the efforts to rid the North Central States of armed bandits and other criminal elements by flying several combat missions under Operation GAMA AIKI in Minna, Niger State.
