An 18-year-old pilot in Australia has set the Guinness World Record for being the youngest person to take a solo trip around the globe in an aircraft.
On July 4 last year, Lachlan Smart from Australia took off in a Cirrus SR22 aircraft and completed the history-making journey at Sunshine Coast Airport, Queensland, Australia on August 27, aged just 18 years 234 days.
The announcement comes after an extensive evidence review process that involved checking the GPS data for the entire journey, all take-off and landing times, multiple witness statements and video footage, the Guinness World Records said.
Smart stopped in 24 locations in 15 different countries during his seven-week flight, and covered 45,000 kilometres. “My mission is to inspire youth to dream big and to follow their dreams, giving confidence to others so they can achieve their full potential and do what they may otherwise only dare to dream about,” said Smart, before embarking on the flight.
The previous record holder was Matthew Guthmiller from the US, who was aged 19 years 7 months 15 days when he achieved the title back in 2014.