House OKs Ban on Child Pilots Seeking Records

Prompted by the death of 7-year-old Jessica Dubroff, the House passed legislation Monday night forbidding a licensed pilot to turn over an airplane’s controls to a child trying to set an aviation record.

Jessica was attempting to become the youngest person to fly across the 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 bill, passed, 395 to 5, and sent to the Senate, prohibits anyone who does not hold 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.

Licensed pilots who turn over the controls to a non-pilot trying to set a record would have their licenses revoked by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Federal investigators said Jessica’s four-seat plane appeared to be carrying more weight than was safe. They said Reid’s injuries suggested that he, not Jessica, was piloting it at the time of the crash. The investigation is not complete.

Jessica, of Pescadero, Calif., attracted great publicity with her plans to fly from Half Moon Bay to Falmouth, Mass. But after the crash, critics questioned whether a child that age had the necessary skill and judgment for such a feat.

The bill still permits children to take a plane’s controls, but only under the supervision of the pilot in charge and under circumstances other than a record attempt or competition.

The FAA is directed within six months to complete a study of the impact of children flying aircraft.

Meanwhile, a 12-year-old Californian is on his way toward making a 1,300-mile flight from San Francisco to Alaska after an anonymous donor’s $6,000 gift, despite the criticism over Jessica Dubroff’s trip.

Andy Hedin’s original sponsors backed out amid criticism surrounding Jessica’s flight. But, after reading about his plight in a newspaper, a woman from the San Diego area wrote him a check, allowing him to reschedule his dream for Aug. 5.

Andy said that if the bill in Congress becomes law, it would not apply to him.

“We’re not trying to break any records or anything,” the young pilot from Sunol said.

Accompanied by a flight instructor, Andy will fly a rented single-engine Cessna from Livermore to Alaska with stops in Eureka and Seattle. The trip should take three or four days, flying six hours a day.