Story at a glance
- Zara Rutherford is a Belgian-British 19-year-old one stop away from becoming the youngest woman to fly around the world solo.
- She first embarked on her cross-world flight on Aug. 18, 2021.
- The title is currently held by American aviator Shaesta Waiz, who set the record in 2017 when she was 30.
A teenage pilot landed in Germany on Wednesday, bringing her one stop away from becoming the youngest woman to fly around the world solo.
Zara Rutherford, a Belgian-British 19-year-old, is expected to land in Kortrijk, Belgium, on Thursday, where she first embarked on her cross-world flight on Aug. 18, 2021.
Upon landing in Kortrijk, Rutherford will become the youngest woman to fly around the world solo.
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The title is currently held by American aviator Shaesta Waiz, who set the record in 2017 when she was 30. The men’s title is held by Britain’s Travis Ludlow, who set the record in 2020 at the age of 18.
Rutherford hopes her accomplishment will inspire more women to become pilots.
“Growing up, I didn’t see many other female pilots. I always thought that was really discouraging,” Rutherford told The Associated Press when she landed in Germany. “So I’m hoping to encourage more girls to go into aviation and kind of show a friendly face, so that if a girl likes aviation and she sees me, she knows she’s not the only one.”
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