Rachel Thomas Biography 
Rachel Thomas is India’s first woman skydiver and has been in this field since 1979. On 20 April 2002 she became the first female skydiver of the country to skydive from 7,000 feet over the North Pole. This event was organized to commemorate 150 years of the Indian Railways. During her active years in skydiving, she completed 650 jumps in 18 countries. She joined this profession in the year 1979. For her contributions towards sports, especially skydiving, Government of India honoured him with the fourth civilian honour - Padma Shri in 2005, three years after she made her historic dive from North Pole. She is a retired employee of Indian railways.
Rachel Thomas was born in 1955 to a couple from Kerala at Chittranjan, West Bengal. Both her parents Alexander and Elizabeth Ittercherya were from Kerala, and employed at Indian Railways in East India. She has one sister. Rachel’s early education was done at West Bengal, where her parents worked. At the age of 17, she married Captain K. Thomas and the couple had two children – one son and one daughter. Their daughter is a model who became a Femina Miss India winner in 1998. Rachel legally separated from husband.
She took the bold step to fly on air in 1979. She had always wanted to fly like a bird. When she got an opportunity, she joined the first course at a new skydiving institute that she heard about at a dinner party in Agra. She was then a young wife of an army officer, a mother of two kids, but never imagined what will happen next. Interestingly Rachel had never been on a flight before, and she was told to jump from 4500 feet height. With sweaty palms and prayers, she made that first jump and in that moment. Thus she became the first woman skydiver of the country, entering her name to history books. She is also the first Indian woman to skydive from 7,000 ft over the North Pole.
Published: February 03, 2019
Updated: February 03, 2019
