Round-the-world flier, 16, is about to land world record
A 16-YEAR-OLD boy is nearing the final leg of his five-month adventure to become youngest person to fly around the world solo.
Mack Rutherford set off from an air base in Sofia, Bulgaria in March.
If successful, he will clinch a Guinness World record currently held by fellow Briton Travis Ludlow, who was 18 when he completed the mission last year.
Mack’s sister Zara Rutherford, 19, became the youngest woman to fly around the world solo when she finished a similar mission earlier this year and still holds the title.
He is in New York, and was due to set off yesterday and will land in the UK at Biggin Hill Airport, Kent, on Monday.
The teen is set to return to his starting point in Bulgaria – and complete his mission – next Wednesday.
Over his five-month trip, he visited Cagliari in Sardinia, on to Africa, visiting Congo, Madagascar and Mauritius. He then headed north to UAE, to India, China, South Korea and Japan, before flying to Alaska and continuing along the west coast of America to Mexico.
He then flew north to Canada, crossing the Atlantic, and will be stopping in Iceland before the UK.
Throughout his trip, Mack has faced sandstorms in Sudan, Dubai’s extreme heat, airport closures in India and electrical failures in the system which pumps his reserve fuel to the aircraft’s main tanks.
Mack, who attends boarding school in Dorset, and has dual British-Belgian nationality, was born in a family of aviators.
His father Sam is a ferry pilot, his mother Beatrice is a private pilot. Mack, who lives on the outskirts of Brussels, said: “I have been fortunate to have had a family that has been able to help me progress in my flying.”