Zara Rutherford dodged giant clouds in Colombia, lightning flashes in Mexico, visa delays and even smog in India to become the youngest woman to circumnavigate the globe solo
A photo provided by the Museum of Flight shows Zara Rutherford after landing her small plane in Seattle in September 2021. Before reaching the city, she flew through wildfire smoke over Northern California. (Museum of Flight via The New York Times)
She could have started college. Instead, she spent five months flying more than 32,000 miles across five continents.
“My name is Zara Rutherford, a teenager,” she told the internet after leaving Belgium in August. “I’m attempting to fly solo around the world,” she said, aiming to be the youngest woman ever to do so.
Rutherford, 19, dodged giant clouds in Colombia and lightning flashes in Mexico. In Alaska, her tiny plane was grounded for weeks by bad weather and a visa delay.
That was all before the British and Belgian aviator crossed a frozen, desolate patch of Siberia. Before China barred her from its airspace. And before smog scrambled her route across India.
As delays piled up, Rutherford fell more than two months behind schedule. But she didn’t quit. When she landed in the Belgian city of Kortrijk on Thursday, she became the youngest woman to circumnavigate the globe solo. Supporters lined up on the tarmac to show their support and welcome her home.
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