Around the world alone: ​​19-year-old lands in Hesse after a round-the-world flight

Created: 01/06/2022Updated: 01/06/2022, 3:11 PM

From: Sebastian Richter

19-year-old Zara Rutherford before starting her circumnavigation.

© Steve Parsons / dpa

Zara Rutherford is chasing a world record: As the youngest woman, she wants to fly around the world - alone.

Shortly before the end of her trip, she stops in Frankfurt.

Frankfurt - Zara Rutherford has fulfilled a dream.

She was on the road for almost five months and flew around the globe on her own.

On January 12th, if everything goes as planned, she will land at Frankfurt-Egelsbach Airport, announced the 19-year-old.

The next day, it goes from Frankfurt * back to the starting country Belgium.

If everything goes well, Rutherford will be the youngest woman to ever fly around the world on her own.

The trip, originally planned for three months, began on August 18, 2021 in the Belgian city of Kortijk.

Rutherford was born with a passion for flying: Both her Belgian mother and her English father are pilots.

As a toddler, she already knew what a cockpit looked like from the inside, she said shortly before her start.

Dangerous circumnavigation: Rutherford flew all over the world

During her months in the air, Rutherford has seen a lot: her journey first took her across the Atlantic and, after stops in Iceland and Greenland, to Canada.

From there it went on to the east coast of the USA, further south to Colombia and then to the west coast of the USA to Alaska.

After problems with Rutherford's visa in Alaska, the dangerous crossing of the Bering Sea to Russia followed.

On her onward flight in Southeast Asia, she finally came to India via Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines and Indonesia.

She got to Hungary via the Middle East, from there she wants to get back to Belgium via Germany.

Rutherford was on the way with an ultralight aircraft from the “Shark” series, and she financed her trips with the help of sponsors and savings.

Rutherford wants to set an example with a record attempt

With her circumnavigation and record attempt, Zara wants to inspire young women and girls and draw attention to injustices between the sexes. “Only five percent of commercial pilots and 15 percent of computer scientists are women. In both areas - aviation and STEM - the gender gap is enormous, ”explains Zara Rutherford in a press release. This inequality also becomes clear using the example of her own circumnavigation of the world and her record attempt. While the youngest male circumnavigator is an 18-year-old, the youngest woman was already 30.

The unequal distribution of the sexes lies in the upbringing of children.

It is a "dream gap", since our dreams are shaped from earliest childhood by the fairy tales and role models to which we are exposed.

According to Rutherford, boys learn through “toys, street names, history lessons and films” that they can become “scientists, astronauts, CEOs or presidents”.

At the same time, girls are often encouraged to be “beautiful, kind, helpful, and sweet”.

With her flight she wants to show young women that they can be courageous and ambitious and realize their dreams.

Numerous world records have also been set in Hesse *.

(spr)