Who is Zara Rutherford?

TEENAGE pilot Zara Rutherford arrived two months later than expected in Kortrijk-Wevelgem, Belgium.

She spent a month in Nome, Alaska, and 41 days in Russia on her journey.

Zara Rutherford is 19 years oldWho is Zara Rutherford?

Born in Belgium, Zara Rutherford, 19, is a Belgian-British pilot who is the youngest female pilot to fly solo around the world. 

Rutherford is the daughter of British professional pilot Sam Rutherford and Belgian recreational pilot and lawyer Beatrice De Smet.

She began studying to become a pilot at the age of 14, and she received her pilot’s license in 2020. 

At St. Swithun’s School, a girls’ school in England, she achieved her A levels in mathematics, economics, and physics.

When did Zara Rutherford make history?

Rutherford announced her goal to become the youngest female pilot to fly solo around the world at the age of 19 at a news conference in Popham Airfield near Winchester on July 26, 2021. 

She shattere the previous record of American pilot Shaesta Waiz, who set it in 2017 at the age of 30. 

She also sought to break two other world records: the first woman to round the globe in a microlight plane and the first Belgian to circumnavigate the globe solo in a single-engine plane.

The former child of St Swithun’s School, Winchester, was met by her family, journalists, and well-wishers upon her return to Belgium.

She arrived at Kortrijk, Belgium, on January 20, 2022, after landing at Frankfurt Egelsbach Airport in Germany on January 19. 

Four planes from the Belgian Red Devils aerobatic display team joined her on her landing.

“It’s just really crazy, I haven’t quite processed it,” she told reporters after landing, covered in British and Belgian flags.

“It is so strange … It has been such a long difficult five months. I am so relieved to be home.” 

Rutherford went on to say that flying across the world was always a goal of hers, despite the fact that she first felt it would be too risky and complex.

Rutherford broke the record of previous holder Shaesta WaizGetty Images – GettyWhere did Zara Rutherford travel on her voyage?

Rutherford set out from Belgium on August 18 on a 32,000-mile journey west.

She has subsequently been to approximately 50 nations on five continents, including the United States, Greenland, Columbia, and South Korea.

According to Reuters, the most difficult part of the journey was flying over northern Russia since, if something went wrong, aid would be hours away in sub-zero conditions.

The circumnavigation, which includes 70 planned stops and 19 days of relaxation, was supposed to be completed in November of last year, but it was postponed owing to severe weather, visa complications, and Covid limitations.

She had hoped to finish the flight by Christmas, but due to a flat tire on her plane, she spent the holidays in quarantine at a hotel in Singapore.