Former Afghan refugee is youngest woman to fly solo around the world
Shaesta Waiz, born in a refugee camp in Pakistan, has become the youngest woman to fly around the world in a single-engine aircraft.
The 30-year-old landed her Beechcraft Bonanza A36 aircraft in Florida last night at the end of a 138-stop trip that included Dubai.
She offered thanks to her aircraft on Twitter after landing in the evening, Florida time.
Ms Waiz, whose parents fled Afghanistan’s war following the Soviet occupation, later
The flight was not to set a world record but to inspire women and young people to embrace … science and technology education SHAESTA WAIZ
became the first Afghan woman to become a certified pilot after her parents emigrated to the US. She became an American citizen there.
Her 40,233-kilometre journey took in 22 countries, including the UAE, where she landed at Dubai International Airport in July.
She used the Dubai leg to take a commercial flight to Afghanistan, where she met the president, Ashraf Ghani, and civil society activists.
Her historic flight began at Daytona Beach, Florida in May when Ms Waiz was 29, and included stops in Canada, Spain, Egypt, Bahrain, India and Australia.
The longest leg was a 14hour flight across the Pacific Ocean from Hawaii to California.
The flight was “not to set a world record”, she said after travelling from Dubai to Afghanistan, but to inspire women and young people everywhere to embrace aviation careers and science and technology education through her Dreams Soar project.