A 17-year-old teenager became the youngest pilot to circumnavigate the world solo

A 17-year-old teenager became the youngest pilot to circumnavigate the world solo

A 17-year-old teenager has become the youngest pilot to fly around the world solo in a small airplane.

Mark Rutherford has landed in Sofia, Bulgaria, ending a journey of five months and 52 countries.

Born to British parents but raised in Belgium, Rutherford encountered a sandstorm in Sudan during the trip and spent a night on an uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean.

Her elder sister Zara is the youngest woman to fly around the world in an airplane.

Zara completed her journey last January and said she informed her brother about the itinerary.

She was present at Sophia, where Rutherford began and ended the journey.

The previous youngest person to circumnavigate the world in an airplane was Briton Travis Ludlow, who was 18 years and 150 days when he completed the journey last year.

After completing his journey, Rutherford advises others to follow their dreams, regardless of age.

"Work hard and move forward to achieve your goals," he said.

During his travels, he crossed two oceans and reached the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas.

He started the journey on March 23. During the journey, he had to face the high heat of Dubai and sudden airport closures in India.

He said that after a perilous long journey through rain and clouds, he spent the night in a bunker on the side of a runway on an uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean.

He said in an interview with CNN that he had seen beautiful scenery while flying over Kenya's national parks and New York.

His longest flight was 11 hours.

When asked about future plans, he said that he will continue flying.

"Now I have to finish my schooling and read the rest of the itinerary."

Rutherford broke two world records during the trip. First, he became the youngest pilot to circumnavigate the world alone, and secondly he became the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe in a light aircraft.

He traveled in an ultralight aircraft called the Shark, which had a top speed of 300 km per hour.

His older sister Zara said she was in constant contact with her brother during the journey and helped him as much as he could while in the air.

"My parents used to call him every day and I used to talk to him."

"I tried to make it useful by giving it advice about air routes, about flights."

Rutherford said he wanted to be a pilot since he was three years old. He received his pilot's license in September 2020 at the age of 15.

His father Sam is a commercial seaman and his mother is a British private pilot.

Rutherford has British and Belgian citizenship but has spent most of his time in Belgium.

According to her website, her Jijuama was one of the first South African women to learn to fly.