Circumnavigation attempt ends in tragedy

An eyewitness told the Indianapolis Star that Nguyen's Lancair IV-P was quiet as it spiraled out of the sky at 10:46 a.m. Central time July 30.

Nguyen, 44, who founded the Miami nonprofit Asian Women in Aerospace and Aviation, was pronounced dead at the scene where her Lancair IV-P came to rest a few feet from a Circle K gas station in Greenwood, Indiana, on July 30. She had donned epaulets and a tie while filming her final social media post inside the aircraft prior to her departure from Indy South Greenwood Airport at 10:45 a.m.

"I'm super excited today," Nguyen said in the video. She had begun her circumnavigation attempt a few days prior, departing EAA AirVenture Oshkosh in Wisconsin for a stop in Indiana, and was bound for Pennsylvania. Nguyen sought the distinction of becoming the first Vietnamese woman to fly solo around the world. "This is more than just a flight, ok? It's a mission to inspire the next generation of Asian female pilots, aerospace engineers, and STEM professionals."

Family members, friends, and acquaintances posted hundreds of comments on Nugyen's final post.

"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," AWAA posted on its website.

Weather was favorable for visual flight, with a few clouds at 3,000 feet and calm winds at the surface, with visibility of 10 miles recorded at 9:54 a.m. local time at Indianapolis International Airport, 10 nautical miles northwest of Greenwood. ADS-B picked up the Lancair around 50 feet agl just east of Runway 19. The Lancair, in a shallow climb, veered slightly off runway heading, then turned left, with reported groundspeed increasing to 150 mph before declining as the aircraft climbed to just over 400 feet agl. The final ADS-B returns, 36 seconds into the flight, were recorded almost directly above where the wreckage came to rest and was subsequently photographed at the scene by local media.

Nguyen was born in Vietnam and grew up in a village with no electricity. She was educated in a UNICEF school and moved to the United States at age 12. She was a certificated flight instructor twice honored by AOPA, and an airline transport pilot with type ratings for the Boeing 757 and 767, according to FAA records. A graduate of Purdue University, she received a bachelor's degree in math in 2013 and a master's degree in aeronautics and astronautics engineering in 2015. Nguyen was among the Distinguished Flight Instructors of the Southeast Region recognized in the 2017 AOPA Flight Training Experience Awards. She founded AWAA in 2018, and spoke to AOPA at AirVenture in 2019 about her plan to fly solo around the world. Nguyen was again named a distinguished instructor in the 2023 AOPA Flight Training Experience Awards.

Nguyen was the registered owner of the Lancair IV-P, a pressurized version of the four-seat kitplane that set a speed record in 2014 for solo flight between the poles in an aircraft weighing less than 6,600 pounds, Lancair notes on its website.

Nguyen's aircraft was powered by a Continental TSIO-550, according to FAA records.

It is unclear if Nguyen made any radio transmissions related to an emergency during the brief flight. The common traffic advisory frequency at the departure airport is not recorded by LiveATC.net, and there was no contact with Indianapolis evident on a recording of the relevant frequency around the time of the accident, though it's unlikely she would have attempted to contact approach while dealing with an emergency just a few hundred feet above the ground.

In her final social media post, Nguyen thanked SiriusXM for sponsoring her effort, as well as the donors to her GoFundMe page who had pledged more than $4,600 prior to her departure.

"Every bit helps me get closer to making history and lifting up the next generation of aviators," Nguyen said in the reel viewed more than 242,000 times since the accident. "Wish me luck. Thank you, and I will see you in Pennsylvania, and let's keep flying forward together."