But the "sky adventures" of the 44-year-old Vietnamese-American woman ended on 30/7 after the plane she was piloting crashed in Greenwood, Indiana, minutes after takeoff.

The accident killed the pilot. She was on a leg of her second solo trip around the world.

The scene of the plane crash in Indiana, USA, 30/7. Photo: *Kelly Wilkinson/IndyStar*

Anh Thu was born in 1981 in Tuy Hoa. In 1993, she immigrated to the US with her family. At 16, Thu told her father about her dream of becoming a pilot, but he disapproved. He wanted his daughter to go to medical school instead of the Air Force Academy. She remained determined to conquer the sky, starting with her education.

Anh Thu immersed herself in mathematics, her strongest subject, thinking "I have to be responsible for my life and make my parents proud." This effort helped Thu graduate at the top of her high school class of 1,500 students, earning a full scholarship in mathematics from the prestigious Purdue University.

In college, Anh Thu worked as a tutor for 6 USD an hour, took out student loans, and sometimes had to sleep in her car to pursue flying lessons because her family was poor and had no sponsors.

"I had to tutor math for 20 hours to pay for one hour of flight training. To get a pilot's license, you need 60 hours of training," Thu said.

Despite working part-time whenever she could, Anh Thu still graduated from college, ranking among the top 10 graduates. She went on to earn a master's degree in aerospace engineering from Purdue University and a doctorate in the same field from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Recalling her first solo flight, Anh Thu described how her anxiety quickly gave way to overwhelming joy.

"My chest swelled, I felt like I had conquered the sky," she shared with VnExpress in 2019. This milestone earned her a private pilot's license after multiple interrupted training periods due to lack of funds.

Pilot Nguyen Anh Thu. Photo: *WSVN*

In 2017, Anh Thu became a certified flight instructor with the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), after training hundreds of pilots. She was also a commercial pilot flying Boeing 767s for a major airline, with over 4,000 flight hours.

In 2018, the Vietnamese-American woman founded the non-profit organization Asian Women in Aviation and Aerospace (AWAA) with the desire to inspire the next generation. "As an Asian woman, I had to overcome many barriers and always wanted to contribute and inspire the next generation," Thu said.

In 2024, Anh Thu made history as the 10th woman and the first Vietnamese person to fly solo around the world in a single-engine aircraft, crossing 4 continents, and visiting 25 countries and territories. Her journey inspired millions.

Pilot Nguyen Anh Thu poses in the cockpit before her flight from Indiana on 30/7. Photo: *Kelly Wilkinson/IndyStar*

The fateful flight in late July was Anh Thu's second attempt at this journey. Before taking off from Indiana, she posted a video on social media from the cockpit, saying, "This is not just a flight. This is a mission to inspire the next generation of female pilots and Asian aerospace engineers."

After the accident, AWAA released a statement honoring its founder, Nguyen Anh Thu, as an "inspirational pilot who lived boldly, was eager to learn, and had a pioneering spirit." The organization said it would continue Anh Thu's dream of helping young women pursue their passions and establish a scholarship in her name, the Anh-Thu Nguyen scholarship.

Minh Phuong (*Indystar, WSVN*)