Thumbs up from UAE’s first female fighter pilot

With visor strategically placed and a determined thumbs-up from the cockpit, the pilot leading the UAE’s airstrikes on Syrian jihadists pulls off the Top Gun look with aplomb.

But Tom Cruise’s Maverick character and his UAE counterpart have one major difference — the pilot behind the F-16 fighter jet is a woman.

Major Mariam Al Mansouri, 35, has been causing a stir on social media since pictures of her were released to the media.