TEENAGER SEEKS TO BREAK WOMEN'S SOLO FLIGHT RECORD

A Belgian-British teenager took to the skies Wednesday in her quest to become the youngest woman to fly around the world solo.

With her parents looking on, 19-year-old Zara Rutherford took off from an airstrip in Kortrijk, western Belgium in gusty, overcast conditions. Rutherford is aiming to break the record set by American aviator Shaesta Waiz, who was 30 when she set the world benchmark in 2017.

By narrowing the gap from 12 years to just one, she hopes to show other young women and girls that the sky’s the limit when it comes to making their own mark on the history of aviation. Rutherford aims to fly her fast and light Shark sport aircraft over five continents and 52 countries in an aerial trek that’s likely to take 2-3 months.