Female Afghan pilot aims to make historic solo round-the-world flight

Afghan Voice Agency(AVA), The 29-year-old woman, Shaesta Waiz, was preparing to launch the trip on Monday by starting from the trans-atlantic leg of the journey.

Waiz moved to United States in 1987 and became the youngest certified female pilot from Afghanistan after obtaining her pilot’s license.

“When I found my passion — flying — that’s when I started to challenge myself. I started to read. I started to do better in maths. I started to look at the world differently, the sky differently,” Waiz was quoted as saying in a report by AFP.

She said “What’s important is finding your passion and going after it.”

 Waiz expects to travel to 18 countries covering a distance of 25,800 kilometers and countries like pain, Egypt, India, Singapore and Australia.

She started her trip from Daytona Beach, Florida on Saturday and expects to arrive in Florida in August.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is backing her trip and the organization and engineering graduate will host events to try to get schoolchildren interested in science — notably aeronautics.