Bibikhan Turusbekova was in seventh grade when she decided she wanted to work in aviation. Today she is a co-pilot on Mi-8 and Ka-32 helicopters at Kazaviaspas, the aviation company of Kazakhstan's Ministry of Emergency Situations, flying air ambulance, search and rescue and emergency response sorties1. The ministry shared her story on 19 October, the day Kazakhstan marks its professional holiday for rescuers, firefighters and civil protection staff1. The date goes back to the founding of the State Committee for Emergency Situations on 19 October 1995 and has been celebrated as Rescuer's Day since 200812.

Her route is worth a closer look for anyone who wants to fly helicopters for a living: a state aviation academy, a long block of helicopter flight training near Almaty, an operator's own training programme and then the co-pilot's seat of a twin-engine Mi-8.

A decision made in seventh grade

By the end of school her choice was made, the ministry says, and the prospect of seeing many cities was one of the things that drew her to flying1. Her first flight left a lasting impression1. She enrolled at the Civil Aviation Academy in Almaty, the only higher education institution in Kazakhstan that trains aviation specialists to ICAO, EASA and IATA requirements, according to its partner profile3. She graduated with honours14.

Helicopter training in Almaty

For a long time the academy trained only aeroplane pilots. That changed after a government meeting in 2014 concluded that Kazakhstan's helicopter industry was held back by a shortage of professional pilots5. The academy developed a helicopter programme together with Sky Service, an operator based at Burunday aerodrome just outside Almaty, and its training centre Sky School began flying with academy students in 2015, the year the academy introduced a helicopter pilot speciality5.

In October 2018, when the news site Informburo.kz visited Burunday, Turusbekova was one of the cadets in its photo report, pictured with flight instructor Kairat Kuangaliyev5. At that time the school described its initial helicopter course as built on the European Part-FCL system: 350 hours of theory and exams, simulator training and 135 hours of flying on the Bell 206B3, a single-engine turbine helicopter5. Cadets usually flew their first solo after 17 to 18 hours with an instructor, a simple circuit of take-off, one lap at about 150 metres and landing5. Academy cadets trained on government grants; private students paid about €120,000 for the full course5. The school's first six graduates, in 2017, all went on to fly EC145 helicopters at Kazaviaspas5.

From graduate to rescue co-pilot

After graduating, Turusbekova was selected for the emergency ministry's aviation unit and joined Kazaviaspas in 202114. A diploma alone did not put her in the cockpit. She first completed Kazaviaspas's own flight crew training programme, after which the Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan, the country's civil aviation regulator, cleared her to work independently as a co-pilot4. In November 2021 the company announced that ten young rescue pilots had started flying independently as co-pilots, Turusbekova among them: six of them, including her, on the Mi-8T and four on Eurocopter helicopters41.

The Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan itself is young. It was set up on 1 August 2019 as part of a reform that moved Kazakhstan's aviation oversight towards the model of the UK Civil Aviation Authority and EASA6. For a new pilot, that means the clearance to fly with an operator comes from a regulator modelled on the UK CAA and EASA.

What the job involves

Kazaviaspas is a joint stock company fully owned by the state. Its roots go back to an aviation department of the emergency ministry formed in 2002, and it became a joint stock company in 20117. Its crews deliver rescue teams and equipment to disaster zones, fly reconnaissance over flood zones and the mountain slopes above Almaty, help rescue fishermen in distress and fight steppe and forest fires7. Pilots are posted to aircraft bases across the country4.

Air ambulance work is a large part of it. In 2021, Kazaviaspas crews flew about 700 air ambulance sorties and carried 649 patients, out of roughly 3,000 flights in total8. On 2 January 2022, Kazakhstanskaya Pravda reported, a Mi-8 crew flew a newborn baby in a critical condition from the village of Akzhar in East Kazakhstan to Ust-Kamenogorsk8. For 2023 the company reported 276 patients carried and a fleet of 30 aircraft and helicopters9.

The two types Turusbekova flies are very different machines. The Mi-8 is a Soviet-designed twin-turbine transport helicopter. The Ka-32 has two coaxial main rotors and no tail rotor; the Ka-32A11BC helicopters Russian Helicopters delivered to Kazakhstan's emergency ministry in 2012 were built with medical modules and water cannons for medical, rescue and firefighting work10.

"Every flight is a responsibility," Turusbekova says. "During each flight, you are responsible not only for yourself but also for the passengers." When the weather or the situation calls for a quick decision, she says, it is knowledge and training that help, not emotions1. What motivates her, she says, is a mix of passion for the job, ambition and the backing of the people close to her1.

What aspiring helicopter pilots can take from her route

Turusbekova's path shows how a rescue flying career is usually built in steps. The first step is a structured training route, in her case a university degree combined with a helicopter course that, at her flight school, included 135 flying hours. The second is getting hired by an operator, which then trains new pilots on its own types and procedures. The third is starting as co-pilot on a multi-crew helicopter, where experience on demanding operations is built alongside a captain. Light training helicopters like the Bell 206 teach the basics; the step to a twin like the Mi-8 comes with the operator.

The details differ by country, and so do the costs. For a first overview, read how to become a helicopter pilot and what helicopter pilot training costs. For another story about a pilot who reached the cockpit through a structured state route, see the Turkish Navy's first female maritime patrol pilot.