Youngest pilot flies solo around the world

Teen's global flight breaks records - 3rd October 2022

Touching down in Sofia, Bulgaria after his five-month-long circumnavigation of the globe, teenage pilot Mack Rutherford earned the title of the youngest pilot in history to single-handedly make the trip.

The Belgian-British aviator,17, flew over 52 countries and braved sandstorms in Sudan, soaring temperatures in Dubai and airport closures in India. His trip included pauses en route but as he glided over Europe, Asia and North America, he took in a selection of historic landmarks and national parks, all of which helped stave off boredom on his gruelling 11-hour daily flights.

His "hairiest moment" was when adverse meteorological conditions forced him to land on a deserted Pacific island, abandoned over a decade earlier. He acknowledged to reporters, "If anything had gone wrong, I would be on my own ... I had to sleep in a small shed on the side of the runway."

Having successfully reached terra firma, Mack was awarded a pair of Guinness world records, one for the youngest solo flight and the other for the youngest solo flight in a microlight plane. 

Mack accomplished this feat in a Shark aircraft, an advanced ultra-lightweight plane with a comfortable cruising speed of 300 km/h. 

When questioned about his future plans, the teenager said, "I'm thinking of something like the air force, but I'm nowhere 100 percent sure on anything."

The teen is far from being the only famous pilot in his family as earlier this year, his older sibling Zara broke precisely the same record as a young female solo pilot. Both Mack's parents fly and aviation stretches back five generations in the family, with Mack's great-great-grandmother being one of the first South African women to pilot a plane.

While Mack embarked on the daunting journey alone, he received ongoing encouragement from his family and in their daily phone calls, his sister would routinely give him pointers about the route.

Mack hopes his achievement will act as an incentive for others to "follow your dreams, no matter how old you are."