Zara Rutherford, Teenage Pilot, Breaks Solo Round-the-World Record

Most 19-year-olds are focused on college, landing entry-level jobs, and their favorite selfie filters. That is not the case with 19-year-old Belgian-British history maker Zara Rutherford.

Rutherford has become the youngest female pilot to fly solo around the world.

Her journey commenced in Belgium on August 18, 2021. She completed her circumnavigation in Belgium on January 20, 2022. Neither paperwork delays nor inclimate weather could defeat her.

Rutherford says, “I’m looking forward to telling people about my experiences and encouraging people to do something crazy with your life.”

Traveling a span of 32,000 miles within a microlight aircraft, Rutherford said that the hardest part of her history-making endeavor was flying over Siberia, “It was extremely cold; and, if the engine [were] to stall, I’d be hours away from rescue. I’m not sure I would have survived.”

Rutherford survived.

However, she was stuck for a week in Nome, Alaska, awaiting the renewal of her Russian visa. When her passport finally made it from the Russian consulate in Houston, Texas, she had to wait another three weeks for weather clearance so that she could cross the Bering Strait.  

Rutherford remained in good spirits during her downtime by posting to her social media accounts (like the other people in her age group), working on her aircraft, and applying to universities.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Rutherford could not fly into China; so, she flew over the Sea of Japan to South Korea. She spent the Christmas and New Year holidays away from family in Indonesia, Mumbai, and Singapore. She was stranded with a flat tire before arriving home in Kortrijk, Belgium. 

Rutherford broke the record previously held by Afghanistan-born pilot Shaesta Waiz who was thirty years old when she made the flight.

Following the travels of its ardent alumna was St. Swithun’s School, the all-girls alma mater of Rutherford. The institution was the first to congratulate Rutherford upon the completion of her world trip, tweeting on the day of her achievement, “Huge congratulations to our 2021 Head of Finlay, Zara Rutherford, who has just set a number of world records by completing her round-the-world flight! Super proud of her work to promote STEM subjects to girls around the world.” 

Rutherford, the daughter of pilots, advocates for girls to be exposed to career opportunities in STEM at an early age.

“Only 5% of commercial pilots and 15% percent of computer scientists are women. In both areas–aviation and STEM–the gender gap is huge … With my flight, I want to show young women that they can be bold, ambitious, and make their dreams come true,” Rutherford remarked via FlyZolo, one of her sponsors.

Rutherford was also sponsored by Virgin Group (Richard Branson), SafeSky, and other global charity partners. 

In addition to breaking the world record for being the youngest to fly solo around the world, Rutherford also set the world records for being the first woman to fly around the world within a microlight aircraft and for being the first Belgian to fly around the world solo in a single-engine aircraft. 

At a press conference following her fantastic feat, Rutherford advised anyone with an aspiration, “If you have the opportunity, go for it.”