China's 1st female pilot trainee of manned sub dives with Jiaolong

By Park Sae-jin Posted : January 30, 2015, 16:06 Updated : January 30, 2015, 16:06
China's first female pilot trainee dived on Saturday as co-pilot with deep-sea manned submersible Jiaolong, China's first such sub, in the southwest Indian Ocean.

Zhang Yi, 27, was in charge of communicating with the sub's support ship, operating the camera and observing obstacles through the left window during the dive.

"I piloted Jiaolong in testing pool last year and it was very cool," Zhang said prior to the dive, "I think it will be more exciting to dive in ocean and I have been looking forward to this dive for months."

In this dive, Jiaolong was expected to collect some samples of rocks, sulfide, hydrothermal fluid and living beings in this hydrothermal area, said Yu Hongjun, chief commander of the expedition.

By Ruchi Singh