Zara Rutherford, 19, Becomes Youngest Pilot To Fly Round The World
NDTV
Navigating the world in a tiny, 325-kilogramme Shark UL single-propellor plane, loaned to her under a sponsorship deal, meant she had to skirt around clouds and could not fly at night.
"It was harder than I imagined," said teenage pilot Zara Rutherford on Thursday after completing a solo, round-the-world flying odyssey with the aim of getting into the record books.
The 19-year-old touched down at an airfield outside the Belgian town of Kortrijk to a crowd of journalists, well-wishers and family, laying claim to being the youngest woman to have circumnavigated the globe alone in a cockpit.
She set off, just over five months ago, on 18 August, 2021.
"It's very strange being back here," she told a media conference, adding that, after an epic journey with stops in nearly 30 countries, she was looking forward to putting her feet up for a while in just one place.
