17-year-old pilot sets record for solo flight around the world

Muscat: The teenage pilot, Mack Rutherford, became the youngest person to fly solo around the world in a small aircraft.

17-year-old Rutherford's five-month journey covered 52 countries, including the Sultanate which he visited on June 1.

His elder sister Zara is the youngest woman pilot to fly solo around the world.

During the Muscat leg of the journey, he was welcomed at the Jetex VIP lounge of the Airport on June 1, after he got approval from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

His trip covered Madagascar, Maldives, Kenya and Egypt, Greece, UAE, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, China, South Korea, Japan, and the United States.

The previous record holder for flying solo was British pilot Travis Ludlow, who was 18 years and 150 days old when he completed his journey last year.

The trip took him through Europe, Asia, Africa, the US, across two oceans, with his plane touching down in the UK at Wick in Scotland and departing from London's Biggin Hill Airport earlier this week.

Mack, who comes from a family of aviators, set off from the Bulgarian capital on March 23, with the arduous journey seeing the extreme heat in the Middle East Dubai and unexpected airport closures in India.

The young aviator also said he had slept in a shed beside a runway on an uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean after a "hairy moment" passing through rain and low cloud.

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Coming from a family of pilots, Rutherford first took the controls of an aircraft at the age of seven, sitting alongside his father.

At 15, he became the youngest pilot in the world and is now following in the footsteps of his sister Zara, the youngest woman to fly around the world at age 19.

“My sister, Zara, has been the inspiration, but we come from a long line of aviators, including both my parents. I have been fortunate to have had a family that has been able to help me progress in my flying. But no matter what background you have, I believe it is never too early to work towards your dreams and you shouldn’t limit yourself by others’ expectations,” he said.