Rahul Gandhi lauds all-women crew for completing Air India's longest flight

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday congratulated an all-women pilot team of Air India for completing the national carrier's longest flight from San Francisco to Bengaluru after flying over the North Pole.

Air India's longest direct flight from San Francisco to Bengaluru with the all-women cockpit crew successfully landed in the southern city on Monday.

"Congratulations to the all-women cockpit crew for completing Air India's longest flight from San Francisco to Bengaluru over the North Pole.

"You have made the country proud," Gandhi said on Twitter.

The national carrier had said this flight would be the longest commercial flight in the world to be operated by any Indian airline and the total flight time on this route would be more than 17 hours depending on the wind speed on that day.

The direct distance between the two cities at opposite ends of the world is 13,993 km with a time zone change of around 13.5 hours.