On February 26, 1999, a lone Su-27S, reportedly flown by Ethiopian female pilot Capt. Aster Tolossa, was escorting several MiG-21s on a strike mission when a single aircraft was detected closing from the direction of Asmara. Capt. Tolossa turned to intercept and identified the target as an apparently unarmed Eritrean MiG-29UB (trainer). After some maneuvering, during which there was some kind of communications exchange between the pilot of the MiG and the Sukhoi, the Ethiopian was high at enemy's 6 o'clock, when she realized that the pilot of the aircraft in front of her was her former instructor. Capt. Tolossa immediately warned him that she was about to shoot him down and requested that the Eritrean land at Debre Zeit. He disobeyed and Tolossa pulled the trigger. Exactly which weapon was used remains unknown but it is highly likely that the Ethiopian used at least two air-to-air missiles, both of which were evaded, and then finished the target with 30mm gunfire. The Eritrean pilot was certainly experienced enough to evade both missiles and he also knew who and where the enemy was. While it remains unknown if anybody ejected from that MiG-29UB, it is certain that Capt. Tolossa was given a hero's welcome back at her base; with right as she was the first female fighter-pilot to shoot down an enemy fighter-jet in the history of air warfare. The authenticity of this account is in dispute. If it is true, it would be the first example of a woman scoring a jet-to-jet air-to-air kill. The highest confirmed female ace is Lilya Litvak of the Soviet VVS during WW2 against the Germans in a piston Yak-1 and 1b with 12 kills, 1 balloon, and 3-4 probables!

The story is in dispute b/c there is no record of a female Ethiopian Su-27 pilot with the Tolossa name; however, it could be Lt. Haymanot Hailemariam who defected to Europe! The ETAF would not want to have their hero a defector: http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k135/letecmig/etgiopiaLt1HaymanotHailemariamETAFS.jpg