A Belgian-British teenager took to the skies
Wednesday in her quest to become the
youngest woman to fly around the world solo.
With her parents looking on, 19-year-old Zara
Rutherford took off from an airstrip in Kortrijk,
western Belgium in gusty, overcast conditions.
Rutherford is aiming to break the record set
by American aviator Shaesta Waiz, who was 30
when she set the world benchmark in 2017.
By narrowing the gap from 12 years to just
one, she hopes to show other young women
and girls that the sky’s the limit when it comes
to making their own mark on the history of
aviation. Rutherford aims to fly her fast and light
Shark sport aircraft over five continents and 52
countries in an aerial trek that’s likely to take
2-3 months.