A 19-year-old pilot, hoping to become the youngest woman to fly solo around the world, touched down in Palo Alto on Wednesday.
Zara Rutherford hopes to break the record set by American Shaesta Waiz, who completed the feat at age of 30 in 2017, according to National Geographic.
Through the voyage, Rutherford – who is British-Belgian – seeks to "inspire young women and girls to pursue whatever they may be interested in, even if that is seen as traditionally male," according to her website.
She specifically wants to reduce the gender gap in aviation and STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), professions that have historically been dominated by men.
Rutherford - flying in her small, two-seat aircraft - started her journey in Belgium on August 18 and spent about a week in Europe before navigating to the Western Hemisphere. After stops in Canada, the east coast. and South America, she flew back up to the U.S. last week to explore the western part of the country.
Rutherford arrived in Palo Alto following stops in the Mojave Space Port and Los Angeles. She is scheduled to spend two nights in the Bay Area before flying to Kalispel, Montana on Friday.
She hopes to return to Belgium in early November, by which she will have flown to over 52 countries across five different continents.
