Karnataka’s first woman drone pilot explores opportunities in B2B sector

Flying drones is no longer limited to men, in the last couple of years, a number of women have become drone pilots in the country. Karnataka too recently got its first woman DGCA certified drone pilot

A career as a drone pilot is much sought after in the aviation sector with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) or drones being used for everything from filming weddings to spraying pesticides in agriculture fields.

Flying drones is no longer limited to men, in the last couple of years, a number of women have become drone pilots in the country. Karnataka too recently got its first woman Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) certified drone pilot.

Archana Muthappa, a communications specialist who did a drone training course at Hyderabad-based Flytech Aviation Academy, received her Remote Pilot Certificate (RPC) a few days ago making her the first drone pilot in the state.

“I did a certified course at Flytech Aviation Academy in Hyderabad in October 2021. The course consisted of both theory as well as practical training,” said Ms. Muthappa. She has received her certificate for operating drones in the small category and the licence to operate them will be valid till February 2033.

DGCA has categorised drones in five categories based on their weight which are Nano (upto 250gm), Micro (250 gm to 2 kg), Small (2 kg to 25 kg), Medium (25kg to 150 kg) and Large (more than 150 kg).

Ms. Muthappa said that she is planning to explore opportunities in the Business-to-Business (B2B) sector to operate drones rather than do drone photo or videography.

“When I enrolled for the course I thought that it would be fun to do (fly drones). But now I am looking at options in the B2B segment for example like in agriculture there is a huge demand for drones be it for spraying pesticides or doing aerial surveys,” Ms. Muthappa said.