19-Year-Old Zara Rutherford Hopes to Be the Youngest Female Pilot to Fly Around the World

At 19 years old, Zara Rutherford, from Belgium, just embarked on an adventure for the record books. Zara wants to be the youngest female pilot to fly around the world solo.

"It's a dream I've had my entire life, to fly a plane around around the world,” Zara said. “it was just a crazy idea and I always thought it would impossible.”

“But then I decided if I didn't tell anyone about it, then it's never going to happen. So I told my parents and straight away, they are like 'Yes, let's do this.’”

Her parents, who are both pilots themselves, are supportive of Zara leaving the nest.

“I'm very aware of the risks,” one said. “But I think she needs to fly away. It's it's her dream, and she needs to live it."

Zara says its a journey that she hopes will encourage and inspire others.

“With the media attention that I've been getting,” she said, “I'm hoping to encourage girls and women to hopefully also go into aviation and STEM, so sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics."

Earlier this week, she began that journey taking off from an airport in Belgium.

On the way, Zara intends to fly over five continents and 52 countries in a 51,000-kilometer trip that will take several months.

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