Nineteen-year-old Rutherford, who holds both British and Belgian citizenship, is striving to become the youngest woman in history to fly solo around the world. She began learning to fly as a child and now hopes to pilot her plane across 52 countries on five continents within a period of less than four months.
Rutherford started her journey on August 18 from Belgium, landing in Britain on her way to Iceland, before crossing the Atlantic Ocean to reach the United States, and then to Alaska after a wide-ranging detour that took her down to South America and back to the U.S. West Coast.
She is undertaking her journey aboard a plane from the fastest aircraft in the world, the "Shark Ultralight," designed specifically for this trip and capable of speeds up to 300 kilometers per hour. While in the remote town of Nome, Alaska, Rutherford exclaimed, "This place is stunningly beautiful," sharing a video of the scenic views she captured from the cockpit during a Zoom interview.
Rutherford has faced several obstacles along the way, including smoke from wildfires in California and technical issues with the aircraft, which prevented her from fully deploying the landing gear during her landings.
She aims to set a new record; the current record for the youngest woman to fly solo around the world is held by American Shaesta Waiz, who was 30 at the time. Rutherford believes she has 11 years to surpass this record set by Waiz. Notably, the youngest male to fly solo around the world is Australian Lachlan Smart, who achieved this feat at the age of 18 in 2016. Smart flew an old single-engine plane, stopping at 24 locations across 15 countries during his seven-week journey.
