Anh Thu Nguyen, 44, who set out to become the first Vietnamese-American woman to fly solo around the world, died in a tragic plane crash on the morning of 30 July in the US state of Indiana. The Johnson County Coroner’s Office confirmed that Nguyen died at the scene shortly after take-off.
On the second leg of her journey, Nguyen took off from Indy South Greenwood Airport and was en route to Pennsylvania. However, just minutes after take-off, her Lancair IV-P aircraft suddenly lost altitude and crashed into a slope behind a petrol station in Greenwood. Eyewitnesses described the crash as “silent but devastating.”
Frank Williams, who was at the scene, said: “There was no explosion or fire, but I immediately noticed the smell of fuel when I got closer. When I reached the aircraft, I realised no one had survived.”
The crash is currently under investigation by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
A Life Dedicated to Science and Aviation
Born in Vietnam, Anh Thu Nguyen immigrated to the United States with her family at the age of 12. She earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Purdue University, followed by a master’s in aerospace engineering, and later completed a PhD in the same field at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech).
Nguyen transformed her passion for aviation into education and social impact. In 2018, she founded the non-profit organisation Asian Women in Aerospace and Aviation Inc. She also served as the chief flight instructor at the Dragon Flight Training Academy in Georgia.
One of Nguyen’s key goals was to encourage Asian women to pursue careers in aviation and engineering. In an interview with Purdue University, she stated:
“As an Asian woman, I had to overcome many cultural and linguistic barriers. I wanted to turn these challenges into a tool to inspire the generations that follow me.”
A Dream-Fuelled Journey, Cut Short
Nguyen’s dream of flying solo around the world began to take shape as an idea in 2019. However, her official journey started on 27 July 2025, with a flight from Oshkosh, Wisconsin to Indiana. Just three days later, she took off for the second leg — but tragically, she never reached her destination.
In her final social media post before take-off, Nguyen summed up her vision and mission:
“This isn’t just an ordinary flight. It’s a journey to inspire the next generation of Asian women pilots, aerospace engineers, and STEM professionals.”
