Anh-Thu Nguyen, a Vietnamese-born U.S. flight instructor attempting to become the first Vietnamese woman to fly solo around the world, was killed Saturday when her single-engine aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff from Indy South Greenwood Airport in Indiana.
The 44-year-old pilot had just departed on the second leg of her global journey, bound for Pennsylvania, when her 2005 Lancair IV-P spiraled from the sky and crashed behind a gas station in Greenwood, according to local authorities. Nguyen was the only person on board and was pronounced dead at the scene. No injuries were reported on the ground.
Just minutes before the crash, Nguyen posted a video to Facebook celebrating the completion of her first flight leg. “This is more than just a flight. It’s a mission to inspire the next generation of Asian female pilots and aerospace engineers,” she said.
Nguyen, who moved to the U.S. at age 12, held degrees in mathematics and aeronautics from Purdue University and Georgia Tech. She served as chief flight instructor at Dragon Flight Training Academy and founded the nonprofit Asian Women in Aerospace and Aviation Inc.
