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Rutherford was accompanied by a few planes on the last stretch from Frankfurt, Germany, where she had to land in the fog on Wednesday evening. On landing she received a salute from the fire brigade. Her parents, fans and international camera crews were at the airport.
Zara took off in her birthplace Kortrijk last August for her record attempt. She flew 52,000 kilometers over 52 countries on five continents. The journey was not always without a struggle. She was grounded for three weeks in Alaska due to bad weather. The adventure therefore lasted two months longer than she had originally planned.
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The fast aircraft that Rutherford flew is of the Shark ultralight type, with a cruising speed of 300 kilometers per hour. Normally the plane is a two-seater, but a seat was removed and an extra gas tank added. She was all alone, without a follower plane. Along the way, she stayed with families at home.
The Guinness World Record was held by American Shaesta Waiz, who was 30 when she completed her solo tour in 2017. The youngest man is American Travis Ludlow. He broke the record last summer at the age of 18.
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Zara Rutherford landed on Thursday at the airport in Kortrijk
Ⓒ AP
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Inspire to chase dreams
With her adventure, called Flyzolo, Rutherford aims to inspire girls around the world to pursue their dreams and choose engineering. She dreams of becoming an astronaut at NASA.
Zara Rutherford comes from a family that loves flying. Her British father is a former army pilot who was stationed in Belgium. Her West Flemish mother flies in her spare time. A grandfather and a great-grandfather were pilots, while her younger brother is involved with sports planes. When Zara was 14 years old, she started training to get a pilot’s license. Rutherford attended a bilingual secondary school in Belgium and then an English boarding school.
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