Following a five-month challenge, a teen pilot, Zara Rutherford, has become the youngest woman to fly solo around the world.
Due to bad weather, Zara Rutherford, 19, 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.
The former pupil of St Swithun’s School, Winchester, was welcomed by her family, journalists, and well-wishers upon her return to Belgium.
Four planes from the Belgian Red Devils aerobatic display team accompanied her on her landing.
“It’s just really crazy, I haven’t quite processed it,” she told reporters after landing, wrapped in British and Belgian flags.
She said at a news conference that she was “so glad” she took on the 32,000-mile adventure.
“The hardest part was flying over Siberia – it was extremely cold and if the engine was to stall I’d be hours away from rescue. I’m not sure I would have survived,” she said.
“I’m looking forward to telling people about my experiences and encouraging people to do something crazy with their life.
“If you have the opportunity – go for it.”
The circumnavigation began on August 18 and involved more than 60 stops across five continents.
The British-Belgian flyer’s parents are both pilots. She expressed her desire to encourage other young women to pursue careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math).
Sponsors for the challenge included her former school in Hampshire. Also, Shark, the Slovakian manufacturer of the Shark UL aircraft.
Zara’s old school was one of the first to congratulate her, tweeting that it was “super proud” of her accomplishment.
Shaesta Waiz of the United States was 30 at the time of her attempt in 2017. She was the previous youngest woman to fly solo around the world. The record holder for the youngest male was 18 years old.
Rutherford is not only the youngest woman to complete the challenge. But she is also the first woman to circumnavigate the globe in a microlight. She is also the first Belgian to do so solo.
The voyage was initially going to take three months. But weather delays had an unintended consequence, and her Russian visa expired as the Siberian winter neared.
Only three out of 39 flights had gone as planned when she arrived in Nome. She had to wait while her passport was relayed by air to the Russian consulate in Houston.
Even with her new visa, she had to wait another three weeks to cross the Bering Strait.
During a video update posted on Instagram, she said: “It is -18C and my hands are literally so cold. I’ve been here for almost a month.
“I’ve been keeping busy, I’ve been applying to universities and keeping the plane ready to go.
“The weather hasn’t been great. Every time, either Russia has been looking bad or Nome has been looking bad.”
When she arrived in Siberia, where temperatures were as low as -35 degrees Celsius on the ground and -20 degrees Celsius in the air, a mechanic covered some of her plane’s air intakes to keep the engine warm in the bitter cold.
Despite the changes, Ms. Zara Rutherford was confined for a week in Magadan and then three weeks in Ayan.
She also slept in the terminal for two nights after an unannounced layover at Bandar Udara Rhahadi Osman, Indonesia, due to a lack of necessary documents to leave the airport.
Despite the hurdles, and after spending Christmas and New Year’s apart from her family, the teenager appeared to be cheerful and smiling in her Instagram posts.
Flying through wildfire smoke in California was one of her new challenges, she added.
Her instruments also failed in New Mexico due to a blocked pitot tube. She was trapped in Singapore during Christmas due to a flat tire.
Then, she was in her sixth-floor hotel room in Veracruz, Mexico, when an earthquake struck.
She said: “Suddenly the building started to sway. I don’t think I’ve ever run faster down the stairs. I was really expecting the most dangerous part of this trip to be in the air.”
Jane Gandee, the headteacher at St Swithun’s School, said students and staff had been following Ms. Zara Rutherford’s voyage “with interest and admiration”.
She said: “As if the actual flying and navigation were not challenging enough, she had to contend with extreme weather and tricky bureaucracy.
“We are immensely proud of the good humor and resilience that she has shown throughout.
“Fifty of our own students have been inspired by Zara to have a go at flying, and I am sure that her example will serve as inspiration for many more young women around the world.”
