PEMBROKE PINES, FLA. (WSVN) – A highly accomplished pilot from South Florida was killed in the Midwest while trying to recreate her 2024 solo flight around the world.
Anh-Thu Nguyen had just finished the first leg of her globe-circling voyage when her mission to inspire was cut short in Greenwood, Indiana, Wednesday morning.
Prior to the crash, the 44-year-old recorded and posted a video chronicling her progress.
“Hi, everyone. I’m super excited today; I just completed the first leg of my solo flight around the world,” she said in the video.
Nguyen championed other women going after their career goals and encouraged them to live their best lives.
“I want to empower you, empower all women, all over the world, to follow your goals in your dreams,” she said.
But Nguyen’s impressive life was taken Wednesday, when the small plane she piloted crashed near a gas station, according to witnesses
“The plane was kind of going like this and banking, and then it started to lower,” said witness Amanda Landwerlen.
“The nose dove, she went into a spin and just came straight down,” said witness Frank Williams.
Shortly after takeoff, the aircraft slammed into a grassy ditch, killing Nguyen, who was the only person on board.
The aviation pro had flown to Indiana from Wisconsin before the tragedy and was flying her second leg, from Indiana to Pennsylvania. She’d been a commercial pilot and spent time as a flight instructor.
Nguyen was the chief pilot of Dragon Flight Training Academy, whch she and her husband ran at North Perry Airport in Pembroke Pines. She was also the founding president of the nonprofit Asian Women in Aerospace and Aviation.
“It’s a mission to inspire the next generation of Asian female pilots, aerospace engineers, and STEM professionals,” she said in her last video.
Nguyen obtained a bachelor’s degree in math in 2013 and a Master of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics in 2015 from Purdue University.
After the fatal crash was confirmed, friend and fellow pilot Glenn Stout posted a message to Facebook that reads in part:
“She was so full of life and so excited about being only the ninth woman to solo around the world. Too young to be gone so soon.”
Nguyen closed her video message by saying, “Wish me luck. Thank you, and let’s keep flying forward together.”
Then she died doing what she loved.
7News has learned Nguyen had homes in Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash.
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