Belgian Zara Rutherford, at the age of 19, became the youngest woman in history to circumnavigate the globe alone in an airplane. Prior to this, the record belonged to 30-year-old American Shaesta Wise, DIP reports citing Fly Zolo.
Zara Rutherford embarked on a solo trip around the world on August 18, 2021 and landed again in Belgium on January 20, 2022. The flight lasted 155 days. The route included 52 countries on five continents, including Great Britain, Iceland, Greenland, Canada, USA, Russia, Korea, Indonesia, India and others.
“I am happy that I was able to not only set the Guinness World Record for the youngest woman to travel solo around the world, but also close the gender gap by 11 years. The youngest male record holder, Travis Ludlow, was 18 years old at the time of his achievement. I also hope not only close the gender gap in aviation and science, technology and engineering, but also encourage young women to pursue their dreams,” said Zara Rutherford after the successful landing.
The girl flew on an ultralight plane “Shark”. This is a high-performance ultralight aircraft of European production, its speed reaches 300 kilometers per hour. The aircraft was specially prepared for such a long journey.