Zara Rutherford Becomes Youngest Female Aviator To Fly Solo Across The World

Zara Rutherford, teenage aviator, and all-around wonder woman just broke two Guinness World Records by becoming the youngest female pilot to fly solo across the world.

She managed to complete her dream despite COVID-19 restrictions, a few delays because of weather, and other sudden issues. Here's her journey...

19-year-old Zara Rutherford is a teenage aviator, who has just become the youngest woman to fly around the world solo. With dual British-Belgian nationality, Rutherford landed at Kortrijk-Wevelgem Airport in western Belgium on Thursday. With this, she completed a 41-country journey that spanned over 32,300 miles (52,000 kilometers).

Rutherford also shattered two Guinness World Records. She holds the title for the first woman, ever, to go around the world in a microlight aircraft. Plus, she also broke the earlier solo female record, held by 30-year-old American Shaesta Waiz, who circumnavigated the globe, solo, in 2017.

Finally, she also becomes the first  Belgian to circumnavigate the globe, unaccompanied.

Of course, Rutherford's journey and eventual achievements have not come easy. She has faced many delays, like when she had to make an unscheduled landing in Redding, California because the Seattle wildfires were causing poor visibility. She also faced month-long delays in Alaska and Russia each due to visa and weather issues, causing an 8-week schedule setback.

Rutherford flew in and out of many countries like South Korea, Egypt, Greece, and more but was not able to explore many of them, via land, due to Covid-19 restrictions. China, on the other hand, did not give her permission to land.

Delay or not, Rutherford, who has pilots for parents, finally achieved her goal.

The 19-year-old is not what you'd call a pilot with immense experience. While she has been learning to fly since she was 14, Rutherford got her first license in 2020. The idea behind this solo flight was to put the spotlight on women in aviation.

She told CNN how it was disappointing to see that only 5.1% of airline pilots around the globe are women, according to figures from the International Society of Women Airline Pilots (ISA). Said the teen, "[5%] is such a small number, considering it's a career where you get paid to travel around the world. Obviously, it's work, but it's an amazing career with amazing opportunities."

Rutherford further told the Today show, "It is so beautiful. The planet is amazing. The places that stood out the most were the places that were remote, so I would say Siberia, Alaska, and Saudi Arabia."

But the teen is also happy to be back home after being on her own for five months. She stated how it had always been her dream to fly around the world, alone, even if she had thought it to be dangerous and complicated in the beginning. Said the happy girl, "It is so strange ... It has been such a long difficult five months. I am so relieved to be home."