19-Year-Old Zara Rutherford Becomes Youngest Woman To Fly Around The World
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- 19-year-old Zara Rutherford has become the youngest woman to fly solo around the world.
Rutherford landed at an airport in Belgium on Thursday after flying 32,000 miles over 52 countries, a journey that started on Aug. 19, 2021 and included a stop at Kennedy Airport.
Both of Rutherford's parents are pilots. Back on Aug. 26, she told CBS2's Jenna DeAngelis it had always been her dream to fly.
Rutherford made her final landing in front of a crowd of friends and family cheering her on from the runway.
"It's just really crazy. I haven't quite processed it I think. I mean, coming here, I was basically in tears just trying to imagine what it would be like to finally be home after five months," Rutherford said.
In order to meet the criteria for flying around the world, Rutherford had to touch two points opposite each other on the globe, one in Indonesia and the other in Colombia.