FAA says instructor responsible in crash
April 11, 1996
Web posted at: 10:45 p.m. EDTWASHINGTON (CNN) -- Why was a 7-year-old allowed to fly a plane? It's a question many are asking after the Cheyenne tragedy, especially the aviation community, which has increasingly been concerned about the risks of young people trying to set records.
On Thursday, 7-year-old Jessica Dubroff, who was trying to become the youngest pilot to fly cross-country, was killed along with her father and flight instructor when their plane crashed in stormy weather in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
"The only objective in flying should be safe operation of the aircraft and no other countervailing pressures on the aircraft," said Michael Goldfarb, a former Federal Aviation Authority official. "So, would I allow a 7-year-old? No I would not."
Phil Boyer of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association called the crash a "tragic stunt."
"It was a stunt ... with some bad judgment, very bad judgment on the part of the parents. We can't hold a 7-year-old responsible," he said.
Hours after the crash, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered a review of the rules on when an unlicensed pilot can take the controls of an aircraft.
The FAA emphasized that the responsibility rests with the flight instructor who was beside her in the airplane.
"Non-pilots, whether they be 7-year-olds or 97-year-olds, only manipulate the controls when it is safe to do so," said FAA administrator David Hinson. (221K AIFF sound or 221K WAV sound)
Hinson said the National Transportation Safety Board was investigating the crash and that the FAA would not speculate on its cause or on whether the storm was a factor, pending the outcome of that probe.
The plane that crashed was supposed to have fully functioning dual controls -- one on the student's side and another on the instructor's side. The instructor could take over and fully control this plane at any time.
One senior flight instructor says a single engine Cessna is not hard to fly, but that there is more to being a pilot than sitting in the seat and manipulating the controls.
"There is a lot of training that goes into becoming a pilot," said Don Koranda of the Aviation Safety Foundation. "There is a rigorous certification procedure, none of which this person (Jessica) was involved in. As a 7-year-old you are not even allowed to obtain a student pilot's license."
The FAA requires a person to be at least 16 years old to obtain a student pilot's license. But there is a gray area: Experts say federal laws don't specify how old someone has to be to begin student training with a flight instructor.
The chairman of the House Aviation Subcommittee, calling the fatal flight a needless tragedy, said he would introduce legislation next week to prohibit children from flying airplanes in the future.
Rep. John J. Duncan Jr., R-Tennessee, didn't specify what age limit he wants to set for pilots, saying only that his bill "would not allow children to actually fly airplanes."
"I think it is a crime that a 7-year-old was allowed to fly this plane," he said in a statement.
CNN Correspondent Carl Rochelle and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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