Ashburn, VA

34°F
Location Chevron down
Location News Videos
Use Current Location
Recent

Ashburn

Virginia

34°
No results found.
Try searching for a city, zip code or point of interest.
settings
Ashburn, VA Weather
Today WinterCast Local {stormName} Tracker Hourly Daily Radar MinuteCast Monthly Air Quality Health & Activities

Around the Globe

Hurricane Tracker

Severe Weather

Radar & Maps

News

News & Features

Astronomy

Business

Climate

Health

Recreation

Sports

Travel

Video

Podcasts

Winter Center

News & Features AccuWeather Prime Astronomy Business Climate Health Recreation Sports Travel

News / Travel

'That was scary': Teen pilot on round-the-world journey slowed down by weather

The 19-year-old, attempting to set a world record, discussed how weather has been a factor in her months-long journey. "I actually don’t know how long I can survive in minus 35 degrees Celsius," she said of one notoriously frigid place.

By Monica Danielle, AccuWeather senior producer

Published Jan 3, 2022 11:20 AM EST | Updated Jan 3, 2022 11:20 AM EST

Copied
Live Coverage For all things weather, 24 hours a day.

Teen pilot, Zara Rutherford, revealed scary moments when flying solo above frozen, rural Russian landscape during her quest to break a world record.

Teen pilot Zara Rutherford hopes to be landing in her home country of Belgium in a few weeks. The 19-year-old is challenging a Guinness World Record to become the youngest woman to fly solo around the world. The current female record holder, American Shaesta Waiz, was 30 when she set the record in 2017. The youngest male record-holder was 18 when he completed the incredible feat.

Rutherford's plans were to complete the journey by Christmas, but she has been repeatedly set back by delays, most of them due to weather. She began the epic journey back on Aug. 18, and even then, her initial takeoff was delayed 30 minutes due to inclement weather, a theme that has been recurring during her travels around the globe.

"It has been challenging," she said speaking to reporters at Gimpo International Airport in Seoul in mid-December after finally arriving from Vladivostok, Russia, in her Shark Aero ultralight plane, the world's fastest microlight. She explained that she had been stuck in both Alaska and Russia for a month each because of "visa and weather issues."

Rutherford posted this image to Instagram with the caption: "At this rate, by the time I get home I’ll be fluent in Russian. I’ve been in Ayan almost 3 weeks now. Weather is looking promising for tomorrow! Plane is being warmed up in the background to melt some of the ice." (Instagram/FlyZolo)

The Belgian-British pilot left Belgium Airport in August and now hopes to complete her 32,000-mile trip across five continents and 52 countries by mid-January 2022.

Rutherford spoke about her recent long-distance flying fears during a stop in Indonesia on Dec. 22, saying the most challenging part of her journey so far was flying across northern Russia in winter. The pilot had hoped to reach Siberia much sooner, but due to numerous delays, she arrived there nearly three weeks later than planned.

Zutherford's route around the world. (flyzolo.com)

“The problem with Russia, especially at this time of year, is it is extremely cold. There was one leg which was six hours, and it was six hours of nothing, just wilderness," she said. "It was so cold there were no trees. Nothing. No plants, no wildlife, just hills and smooth ice. The sea was frozen."

The Arctic climate tested her plane, which had never experienced such low temperatures before. She flew over Siberia to Magadan where she had to wait a week because of bad weather. On Nov. 9, she was forced to stop in a town called Ayan because her plane needed de-icing. She ended up being stuck there for three weeks due to heavy snow.

Her team posted updates on Instagram, saying, "As she is in subarctic conditions by the Sea of Okhotsk (sometimes reaching subzero temperatures of well below -20°C) her little Shark plane needs de-icing before she can take off. This procedure is critical, as her plane is not equipped with a de-icing system, and ice on the wings is a hazard for every pilot. It's one of the top safety-related concerns in aviation, and it's led to hundreds of accidents."

De-icing in Ayan, Russia. (Instagram/FlyZolo)

Of flying over remote northern Russia in the winter she told Reuters, "That was scary because if for any reason the engine stops, I think I could survive. I could either land on the land or ditch the parachute in the water, and I'll be OK."

But the extreme cold of northern Russia is a constant complicating factor. "The problem is if I’m in minus 35 degrees Celsius (31 degrees below zero Fahrenheit) once I’m on the ground, and I am three hours away from the closest human ... I actually don’t know how long I can survive in minus 35 degrees Celsius," she said.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Zara Rutherford (@fly.zolo)

Rutherford revealed that, for her, one of the most difficult parts of flying solo is that there is no one to help her problem-solve or make difficult decisions.

“Your mind is going to play tricks on you ... So it's quite good to be able to discuss with someone what the best decision is," Rutherford said. "I have to make decisions by myself and make sure they are as rational as they can be. When the weather is bad is it safer to keep going, see what that’s like or is it safer to fly back?”

With most of the extreme winter weather behind her, the teen is hoping to finish up her journey without delay. She spent Christmas Day in Singapore then flew to Sri Lanka Tuesday. From there, she'll head to India, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt then back into Europe where she'll land in Belgium. You can follow her progress live on her website.

Rutherford hopes her voyage will encourage girls and women to study and work in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects and spark interest in aviation. She is planning to start college next year with the dream of becoming an astronaut.

More to see:

Drone shows spectacular view of ghost town frozen in time
Mystery at 'Skeleton Lake' continues to puzzle and enthrall
AccuWeather reporters reflect on memorable weather stories of 2021

For the latest weather news check back on AccuWeather.com. Watch the AccuWeather Network on DIRECTV, Frontier, Spectrum, fuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios. AccuWeather Now is now available on your preferred streaming platform. 

Report a Typo
Comments that don't add to the conversation may be automatically or manually removed by Facebook or AccuWeather. Profanity, personal attacks, and spam will not be tolerated.
Comments
Hide Comments

Weather News

Winter Weather

Cold storm to produce travel-disrupting snow in Southern California

Jan. 28, 2023
Sports

Championship Sunday separated by 40-degree temperature difference

Jan. 28, 2023
Weather Forecasts

Ready for spring? AccuWeather has a sneak peek of the weeks ahead

Jan. 26, 2023
Show more Show less Chevron down

Topics

News & Features

AccuWeather Prime

Astronomy

Business

Climate

Health

Recreation

Sports

Travel

Top Stories

Winter Weather

AccuWeather forecasters break down snow chances for DC to NYC

5 hours ago

Winter Weather

Multiple snow, ice threats forecast for southern Plains

5 hours ago

Winter Weather

Coldest air of 2023 to freeze northern Rockies, Upper Midwest

5 hours ago

Weather News

Driver escapes injury when tree branch impales windshield

1 day ago

Severe Weather

Deadly flooding leaves thousands stranded in New Zealand

14 hours ago

More Stories

Featured Topic

Tips to cope with winter weather

Featured Stories

Astronomy

How record-setting cold contributed to Challenger disaster

Weather News

Driver escapes injury when tree branch impales windshield

1 day ago

Astronomy

How to see a green comet that is about to zip by Earth

1 day ago

AccuWeather Travel 'That was scary': Teen pilot on round-the-world journey slowed down by weather
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs Podcast RealFeel® and RealFeel Shade™
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Shop AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Winter Center
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs Podcast RealFeel® and RealFeel Shade™
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Shop AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Winter Center
© 2023 AccuWeather, Inc. "AccuWeather" and sun design are registered trademarks of AccuWeather, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | TAG Disclosure | Do Not Sell My Data checkmark Confirmed Not Selling Your Data

We have updated our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy.

I Understand

Get AccuWeather alerts as they happen with our browser notifications.

Notifications Enabled

Thanks! We’ll keep you informed.

FEEDBACK