A pilot attempting to turn into the primary Vietnamese lady to fly solo around the globe was killed when her small aircraft crashed in Indiana.
Anh-Thu Nguyen, a Vietnamese-born flight teacher, had simply taken off from the Indy South Greenwood Airport certain for Pennsylvania on the second leg of her international flight when her 2005 Lancair IV-P spiraled out of the sky and crashed behind a fuel station in Greenwood, in response to the Indianapolis Star.
The 44-year-old was the only occupant and was pronounced useless on the scene. No person on the bottom was injured, the Every day Journal reported.
Nguyen was simply three days into the journey, which she hoped would encourage future generations of Asian ladies to turn into pilots, she mentioned in a Fb video posted simply minutes earlier than her aircraft went down.
“I just completed the first leg of my solo flight around the world,” she mentioned within the clip. “This is more than just a flight. It’s a mission to inspire the next generation of Asian female pilots and aerospace engineers and STEM professionals.”
“Let’s keep flying forward together. … Thank you,” Nguyen informed her followers.
Nguyen’s circumnavigation try formally started on July 27 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. She flew from there to Indiana and was attributable to land in Pennsylvania earlier than the aircraft crashed simply earlier than 11 a.m.
Witness Frank Williams informed The Star the plane was eerily silent because it fell towards the bottom.
“There was no explosion, and there was no fire. I pulled right up, and I could smell fuel. As I got close to the plane, I could tell there wasn’t a survivor,” Williams mentioned.
The pilot was born in Vietnam and moved to the US when she was 12, in response to the paper.
Nguyen studied at Purdue College, the place she earned a bachelor’s diploma in math and a grasp’s in aeronautics and astronautics. She later obtained a doctoral diploma in aeronautics and astronautics engineering from Georgia Tech.
She was most just lately working because the chief flight teacher at Dragon Flight Coaching Academy.
In 2018, she launched the Asian Girls in Aerospace and Aviation Inc., a nonprofit targeted on empowering feminine Asian pilots.
“We are heartbroken by the sudden loss of our dear friend, founder, mentor, and leader, Anh-Thu Nguyen, who passed away in a tragic accident during her solo journey around the world,” the group posted in a touching tribute.
“Anh-Thu was an inspiring pilot, instructor, and advocate for girls and women in aerospace, engineering, and aviation. She lived with boldness, curiosity, and drive. She came from humble beginnings in Vietnam to becoming a beacon of hope to many.”
