“Mom, bye bye. I don’t know if I will come back or not.” Those were the words 23-year-old Deepika Adhana from Faridabad told her mother before stepping into the cockpit for a tense rescue mission. Amid rising tensions in West Asia involving the US, Israel and Iran, several Indians in the UAE were struggling to return home. On March 6, Deepika received sudden orders from Air India Express to fly to Ras Al Khaimah as part of a special operation to bring them back. The flight was originally assigned to another pilot, but just two hours before departure, she was asked to take over. Deepika was part of an all-women crew led by Captain Jaswinder Kaur. Their mission was to safely evacuate 169 Indians stranded in the UAE. The aircraft landed in Ras Al Khaimah around 2 pm, and within an hour passengers were boarded for the return journey. During takeoff, the crew briefly lost contact with Air Traffic Control, creating a tense moment. But the flight continued safely and landed at Delhi’...