China's first woman pilot trainee dived in the southwest Indian Ocean as copilot in China's first deep-sea manned submersible Jiaolong, reports China state news agency Xinhua.

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

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"I piloted Jiaolong in testing pool last year and it was very cool," the 27-year-old Zhang said before the dive. "I think it will be more exciting to dive in ocean and I have been looking forward to this dive for months."

During the dive, Jiaolong was expected to collect samples of rocks, sulfide, hydrothermal fluid and aquatic life in this hydrothermal area, said Yu Hongjun, chief commander of the expedition.

"Jiaolong is going to dive in hydrothermal area, where topography and environment are very complicated," said Zhang, who graduated with a master's degree in engineering last summer. "So I think I will learn a lot from the pilot, Tang Jialing."

Two of the six pilot trainees China recruited out of 130 candidates in 2013 were women. The other female pilot trainee is Zhao Shengya, who is scheduled to make her first dive with Jiaolong in a week, reports Xinhua.

The six trainees will be qualified to pilot deep-sea manned sub after a two-year-training, said to Yu. In the meantime, China has two pilots of deep-sea manned sub, Tang and Fu Wentao, who were recruited in 2007.

Jiaolong, which is on a 120-day expedition, will conduct 20 dives to research polymetallic sulfides, biological diversity, hydrothermal microbes and genetic resources in the southwest Indian Ocean.

In November, the Jiaolong embarked on a a four-month mission to take 20 dives to research polymetallic sulfides, biological diversity, hydrothermal microbes and genetic resources.

Named after a mythical aquatic dragon, Jiaolong has reached its deepest depth of 7,062 meters in the Pacific's Mariana Trench in June 2012. Xinhua reports that there are a record number of 13 scientists working on this mission.

TagsChina's First Woman Submarine Pilot Makes Dive, Zhang Yi, Jiaolong, Yu Hongjun, Tang and Fu Wentao