Twenty-nine-year-old Shaesta Waiz, the first female certified civilian pilot from the war-torn country of Afghanistan, now wants to become the youngest woman to complete a solo flight around the world.
No longer the timid child who was afraid of aeroplanes, today she endeavours to take on a journey spread over 25, 800 km, covering around 18 countries including Spain, Egypt, India, Singapore and Australia. She took off from Daytona Beach, Florida on 13 May and if things work out well, she should be ending her trip back in Florida by August.
I thought my role was to become a housewife and have kids. My mom had six girls. I have these moments where I take a step back, even if I’m in the air, and realise this is really happening.Shaesta Waiz to CTV News
Through this historic soar of hers, she wants to inspire and create a breed of women, who are not hesitant to step into male-dominated professions like aviation.
The engineering graduate from the International Civil Aviation Organisation wants to promote science, especially aeronautics, among schoolchildren through events.
When I see the young kids … they are shocked to see the airplane and touch it. When they actually feel something and see something, that’s when they get excited.Shaesta Waiz to CTV News
After her family fled to Richmond, California during the peak of the Afghan-Soviet war, she attended school in a penurious district. She took her first flight at the age of 18, which she recalls was a terrifying experience.
A lot of people in aviation have this moment when they discover it. It’s so magical. It’s amazing.Shaesta Waiz to CTV News
Having discovered her passion, she took admission at the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and that is where she started thinking about the challenge of going solo around the World. Her 3-hour-long rendezvous with Jerrie Mock, the first woman pilot to go solo around the world in 1964, fuelled her courage.
I often tell kids, sometimes your biggest fear in life can be your passion, but you will never know unless you go out there and face it.Shaesta Waiz to CTV News
From fearing the flight to making the cockpit her second home, she says she will never forget the struggles she had to dodge to get there!
(Source: CTV News)
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