US teen beats Aussie solo flight record

An American teenager may have beaten Australian Ryan Campbell's record of being the youngest person to fly solo around the world.

Nineteen-year-old Matt Guthmiller from South Dakota completed the more than 46,600km journey in a single-engine aeroplane on Monday night.

When he touched down at Gillespie Field in El Cajon he was 10 days younger than Campbell when he set his record last year.

Guthmiller's flight began on May 31, with his final 16-hour leg taking him from Honolulu over the Pacific Ocean to California.

The South Dakota native was greeted by reporters and his mother in El Cajon.

"It's great to be back," he said after the arduous journey.

Campbell was 19 years, seven months and 25 days old when he completed the circumnavigation last year.

Guthmiller will be that age on July 24.