Yu Xu (; March 1986 – November 12, 2016) was a Chinese female fighter pilot who served as a flight squadron leader in the August 1st aerobatic team of the

People's Liberation Army Air Force The People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF; ), also known as the Chinese Air Force (中国空军) or the People's Air Force (人民空军), is an aerial service branch of the People's Liberation Army, the regular armed forces of the Peo ...

Early life

Yu was born in

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively Romanization of Chi ...

, the capital of the southwestern Chinese province

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

Education

Yu entered the military as a student at the

PLA Air Force Aviation University The People's Liberation Army Air Force Aviation University () is a military university in Changchun, Jilin, China. As of fall 2014, the university has 7 campuses, consists of 7 departments, covers a total area of 36,000 mu, with more than 19 ...

in 2005, and graduated in 2009. Sixteen women (including Yu) had graduated that year, which made her among the first women certified to fly fighter jets.

Career

Yu joined the People's Liberation Army Air Force in September 2005. Yu appeared with the other female pilots at the 2010

CCTV New Year's Gala The ''CCTV New Year's Gala'', also known as the ''Spring Festival Gala'', and commonly abbreviated in Chinese as ''Chunwan'', is a Chinese New Year special produced by China Media Group (CMG). It is broadcast annually on the eve of Chinese N ...

. In 2012, she was certified to fly the

Chengdu J-10 The Chengdu J-10 Vigorous Dragon (; NATO reporting name: Firebird), is a medium-weight, single-engine, multirole combat aircraft capable of all-weather operations, configured with a delta wing and canard design, with fly-by-wire flight contr ...

, single-engine jet. Yu's fans referred to her with the nickname, "Golden Peafowl."

Death

Yu died during an aerobatic training session on November 12, 2016 after being struck by another plane as she ejected from the J-10. However, some official press reported she was unable to eject on time from her plane before it made impact with the ground.

References

1986 births 2016 deaths People's Liberation Army Air Force personnel Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in China People from Chengdu Chinese women aviators Chinese aviators PLA Air Force Aviation University alumni Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 2016 {{Aviation-stub