of rushing myself, after i fueled up, to get out of there because i was like, "well, i wasted about 45 minutes here, just eating and gassing up and everything. >> mckenzie texted her instructor bobbishe was ready for take-off, heading home. >> i was actually super-excited for this leg of the trip because i was going to be over water the whole way. i had something to follow the whole way there. >> but somehow, just after takeoff, she transposed a zero in her gps directional heading. so instead of going northeast towards home, she flew southwest, and straight into some of the tallest peaks in the country, the absaroka mountains in wyoming. >> that one simple zero made a huge difference. >> but at first it looked okay. she followed a river, as the plan said she should. >> i was like, i'm over water. i've got to be going the right way. >> she was supposed to skirt a small mountain next, and sure enough, there was a peak, its top obscured by smoke from the forest fire. and then it dawned on her with a thump of anxiety. she was flying too high. >> i was supposed to be flying at a height of 7,500 feet. and it got to the point where i was flying at 8,500 and i just -- >> and the mountains