House OKs Limits on Child Pilots

Prompted by the death of 7-year-old Jessica Dubroff of California, the House passed legislation forbidding a licensed pilot to turn over an airplane’s controls to a child trying to set a record. Jessica was attempting to become the youngest person to fly across country when her single-engine Cessna went down April 11 after taking off in an icy rainstorm near Cheyenne, Wyo. Her father, Lloyd, and flight instructor, Joe Reid, died with her. The measure, passed, 395 to 5, and sent to the Senate, prohibits anyone without a valid pilot’s license and medical certificate from attempting to set a record or engaging in an aeronautical competition or feat. The minimum age for obtaining a pilot’s certificate is 17.