19-Year-Old Becomes Youngest Woman To Fly Around The World Solo

A teenage pilot has set a record for being the youngest woman to fly solo around the world. Belgian-British Zara Rutherford spent 155 days in her Shark Aero ultralight before touching down in Kortrijk-Wevelgem in Belgium to complete her round-the-world challenge earlier today.

Zara Rutherford is a Belgian-British pilot, holding FAA and UK private pilot licences plus Slovakian and French microlight licences. She says she has been flying for ‘as long as I can remember’, and that one of her biggest dreams has always been to fly around the world. At just 19, having completed her A levels in Math, Economics, Further Math and Physics, the ambitious youngster set off from Belgium, heading West, to begin her challenge.
Today, 155 days later, Zara touched down in Belgium once again, completing her challenge and earning her place in the history books.

Previously, the youngest woman to have flown around the world solo was Shaesta Waiz, who was 30 when she completed her challenge. Zara has beaten this by more than a decade, narrowing the gap between male and female, with the youngest solo man record still held by Travis Ludlow who was 18.

Part of the reason to undertake the challenging journey was to encourage girls and young women to take up careers in aviation and STEM. In a statement on her website, Zara said,

“Only 5% of commercial pilots and 15% of computer scientists are women. In both areas – aviation and STEM – the gender gap is huge. It is in fact a dream gap as our dreams are shaped from early childhood through the fairy tales and role models we are exposed to. Boys learn through toys, street names, history classes and movies that they can be scientists, astronauts, CEO’s or presidents. Girls are often encouraged to be beautiful, kind, helpful and sweet.

The circumnavigation Zara undertook took in 60 stops across five continents. Originally planned to take around three months, the trip was hampered by multiple issues. In fact, when she arrived in Alaska, only three of the 39 flights she had taken had gone to plan.

Delays due to bad weather caused her visa for Russia to expire. She had to wait in Nome for her passport to be shipped over to the Russian consulate in Houston. Even then, she had to wait three more weeks before the weather was good enough in both Nome and Russia to cross the Bering Strait.

There were mechanical issues to contend with too. Instrument malfunctions in New Mexico caused problems, and a flat tire saw her stranded in Singapore for Christmas. She had to cope with flying through wildfire smoke in California, and blinding smog in Delhi.

As well as becoming the first female to fly solo around the world, Zara has also jumped into more records today. She becomes the first woman to fly a microlight around the world, and the first Belgian to fly around the world solo

Man Stows Away On Cargolux Boeing 747 Wheel From South Africa

A stowaway was discovered in the front landing gear compartment of a Boeing 747-400 on January 23rd.

The discovery was made in Amsterdam aboard a Cargolux freighter which had originated in Johannesburg, South Africa.

With an additional stop in Nairobi, Kenya, this perilous journey would have taken nearly 12 hours to complete- assuming the man boarded in South Africa.

Flight details

On January 22nd, a Cargolux Italia Boeing 747-400F took off from Johannesburg for Nairobi at 19:30 local time operating flight CV7156. The stop in the Kenyan capital would be short, as the freighter’s ultimate destination was Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

The aircraft was registered LX-YCV bearing the nickname ‘Monte Rosa.’
The first leg of the flight from Johannesburg to Nairobi would take nearly four hours and touch down at its first stop at 00:17 on January 23rd. The aircraft would spend four hours on the ground here, loading and unloading its payload as necessary.

Then, at 04:16, the jumbo jet would depart for Amsterdam. With a flight duration of just over eight hours, the aircraft would touch down at Schiphol airport at 10:22 local time. It was here in the Dutch capital that authorities discovered the stowaway
Stowaway discovered in the landing gear compartment

According to the BBC, a stowaway was found alive in the nose wheel section of the 747. Royal Dutch Military Police note that the man was taken to hospital in stable condition.

“The man was found alive in the nose wheel section of the plane and was taken to hospital in a stable condition…This is definitely very unusual that someone was able to survive the cold at such a height – very, very unusual.” Royal Dutch Military Police spokeswoman Joanna Helmonds told media.

Indeed, even if the stowaway boarded in Kenya, eight hours at cruising altitude without a heated and pressurized cabin presents extreme life-threatening conditions. At this point, we don’t know if the individual boarded in Johannesburg or Nairobi, with authorities noting that the man’s age and nationality had not yet been determined.

With the man’s body temperature raised at the scene (Schihol airport), he was then taken to hospital by ambulance. Sources also note that he was able to answer basic questions.

Reuters reports that a Cargolux spokesperson has confirmed via email that the stowaway had been on a flight operated by Cargolux Italia. “We are not in a position to make any further comment until the authorities and the airline have completed their investigation,” the airline said to the news agency. Simple Flying has reached out to Cargolux requesting a statement regarding additional information. However, at the time of this article’s publication, no response has been received.

While the stowaway in this incident survived, this may not always be the case, as Simple Flying has reported in recent months.