text: jessica dubroff jessica whitney dubroff ( may 5 , 1988 – april 11 , 1996 ) was a seven - year - old girl who was killed attempting to become the youngest person to fly a light utility aircraft across the united states . on day two of her quest , her cessna cardinal single engine propeller aircraft , flown by her flight instructor , crashed during a rainstorm immediately after takeoff from cheyenne regional airport in cheyenne , wyoming , killing dubroff , her 57 - year - old father , and her flight instructor . although billed by the media as a " pilot , " dubroff did not possess a medical certificate or a student pilot certificate , since they require a minimum age of 16 , or a pilot certificate which requires a minimum age of 17 , according to u.s. federal aviation administration ( faa ) regulations . there was also no record - keeping body at the time of her trip recognizing any feats by under - age pilots . nevertheless , local , national , and international news media picked up and publicized her story , and closely followed her " record attempt " until its abrupt ending . the u.s. national transportation safety board ( ntsb ) investigated the crash and concluded it was caused by the flight instructor 's improper decision to take off in poor weather conditions , his overloading the aircraft , and his failure to maintain airspeed , which resulted in a stall . the ntsb also determined that " contributing to the [ instructor 's ] decision to take off was a desire to adhere to an overly ambitious itinerary , in part , because of media commitments . " " sea to shining sea " flight dubroff was born in hercules , california to common - law couple lisa blair hathaway and lloyd dubroff . her parents split and her father married another woman , taking then four - year - old dubroff with him to live in the san francisco bay area . she began taking flight lessons from flight instructor joe reid on her sixth birthday , and became enthusiastic about flying . her father suggested the idea of a coast - to - coast flight , which jessica readily accepted , and reid agreed to provide flight instruction and his aircraft for the endeavor . they decided to name their flight " sea to shining sea " ; lloyd ordered custom - made caps and t - shirts with that logo to distribute as souvenirs during their stops . although she had received over 33 hours of flight training , seven - year - old jessica did not hold an faa medical certificate , nor any pilot or student certificate . in the u.s. , a person must be at least 16 years of age to be eligible for a student pilot certificate , and 17 for a pilot certificate . since dubroff was not certified to fly the plane , a rated pilot ( normally her flight instructor reid ) had to be at the controls during all flight operations . while the coast - to - coast flight was promoted as a " record " attempt because of dubroff 's young age , there was no known body recognizing record flights by under - age " pilots " at the time of her flight ( the guinness book of records had officially discontinued its " youngest pilot " categories seven years earlier , because of the risk of accidents ) . the flight would be made in reid 's cessna cardinal , a four - seat single - engine propeller aircraft manufactured in 1975 , registered , which like most aircraft had dual flight controls in the front . jessica would sit in the front left seat , reid in the front right , and lloyd in the back . it was agreed that reid would be paid for his services at normal flight instruction rates , plus compensation for the layover time . reid reportedly told his wife that he considered the flight a " non - event for aviation , " simply " flying cross country with a 7 - year - old sitting next to you and the parents paying for it . " nevertheless , jessica became an instant media celebrity . abc news gave lloyd a video camera and blank cassettes to tape the flight ; once the journey began , it was vigorously followed by supporters , media outlets , and others who monitored its progress , reporting each time dubroff landed or took off . dubroff slept during one of the flight segments en route to cheyenne , and was assisted by reid in one of the landings due to high winds . final flight segment dubroff , her father , and her flight instructor arrived in cheyenne the evening before the accident , after a long day of flying from their half moon bay , california departure point . they were welcomed in cheyenne by mayor leo pando . after some media interviews they got a ride to their hotel in the car of a local radio station program director , who recalled them discussing the forecast weather conditions for the next day . the weather in the morning of the accident flight , as forecast , consisted of an area of heavy precipitation over and to the north and west of cheyenne , with better conditions to the east , where the flight was headed . as the group were about to board their aircraft , the program director who had taken them to their hotel the previous evening interviewed dubroff by telephone . since it began to rain at the airport and the weather seemed to be deteriorating , the director invited her to stay in cheyenne , but dubroff 's father declined , explaining that they wanted to " beat the storm " which was approaching . after a telephone discussion with a casper weather briefer , reid decided to take off despite the worsening conditions at the airport , and to try to escape the poor weather by turning immediately eastward . although he was instrument rated , reid was not instrument current and could not legally operate under instrument flight rules . he decided to file a visual flight rules ( vfr ) flight plan , and depart under vfr , to be better able to cope with the heavy weather in his immediate takeoff path and the vicinity of the airport . as the aircraft began taxiing to the departure runway , it was raining and visibility at the airport fell below the three mile minimum required for vfr flight . cheyenne 's control tower advised the cessna about the reduced visibility and that the " field is ifr . " reid then requested and received from the control tower a special vfr clearance to allow him to exit the airport 's control zone visually , despite the reduced visibility . crash at 8 : 24 a.m. mst , reid 's aircraft began its takeoff from cheyenne 's runway 30 to the northwest , in rain , strong gusty crosswinds and turbulence . according to witnesses , the plane lifted off and climbed slowly , with its nose high and its wings wobbling . it began a gradual right turn , and after reaching an altitude of a few hundred feet , the plane rolled out of its turn , then descended rapidly , crashing at a near - vertical angle into court , a street in a residential neighborhood . dubroff , her father , and reid were all killed by blunt force trauma sustained from impact forces . reid , who was legally the pilot in command for all of dubroff 's flights , was apparently manipulating the controls during this particular flight segment . investigation the national transportation safety board investigated the accident , and published a detailed final report on march 11 , 1997 . from the official point of view , the pilot in command was flight instructor reid , who was the only one on board rated to fly the aircraft . the investigation focused on his decision - making prior to takeoff and his actions once airborne . several experienced pilots who were at the airport at the time of the accident testified that they considered the weather at that time unsuitable for flight , as a thunderstorm seemed to be forming or moving over the field . in addition , investigators determined that the weight of the aircraft during its takeoff roll exceeded its maximum allowable takeoff weight by 96 lbs , which would have increased the stall speed by about two percent . since the aircraft was flying in moderate to heavy rain , the ntsb calculated that the water flowing on the wings would have further increased the stall speed by about 1 . 5 percent . like most flight instructors giving dual instruction , reid was seated on the right side , while the aircraft 's primary flight instruments were mounted on the left , in front of dubroff in this case . investigators speculated that because of the heavy rain in his immediate climb path , reid 's forward visibility became greatly restricted . so to maintain control through the climbing right turn , he would have had to turn his head to the left to see the flight instruments ( most critically the attitude and airspeed indicators ) and to the right to see the ground through the side window . such side - to - side head motion , combined with the worsening flight visibility during the climb and the reduced stall margin , could have led to spatial disorientation and loss of control . probable cause the ntsb concluded that the probable cause of the accident was reid 's " improper decision to take off into deteriorating weather conditions ( including turbulence , gusty winds , and an advancing thunderstorm and associated precipitation ) when the airplane was overweight and when the density altitude was higher than he was accustomed to , resulting in a stall caused by failure to maintain airspeed . " the ntsb further determined that " contributing to the pilot in command ’ s decision to take off was a desire to adhere to an overly ambitious itinerary , in part , because of media commitments . " aftermath child pilot safety act the accident and its associated publicity led to federal legislation to prevent similar " record " attempts by under - age pilots from taking place in the future . the legislation passed the house on september 11 , 1996 , and the senate on september 18 , 1996 . on september 27 , 1996 , differences between the house and senate versions of the bill were resolved . on october 9 , 1996 , president bill clinton signed the federal aviation reauthorization act of 1996 , including the child pilot safety act , into law . the statute prohibits anyone who does not hold at least a private pilot certificate and a current medical certificate from manipulating the controls of an aircraft , if that individual " is attempting to set a record or engage in an aeronautical competition or aeronautical feat . " since a medical certificate and a private pilot 's license have a minimum age requirement of 16 and 17 respectively , the new rule prohibits " child pilots " such as jessica dubroff and vicki van meter from manipulating the flight controls if they are pursuing a record , and the pilot in command 's pilot certificate may be revoked for allowing such activity . media responsibility after the crash , there were claims that the media frenzy around the " bogus " record attempt contributed to the accident by helping promote the flight and pressuring its schedule . this was supported by the ntsb , which determined that the pressure induced by the intense media attention was a " contributing factor " in the accident . abc 's ted koppel reflected on the media 's role in the tragedy on nightline : " we need to begin by acknowledging our own contribution ... we feed one another : those of you looking for publicity and those of us looking for stories . " koppel ended by asking " whether we in the media ... by our ravenous attention contribute to this phenomenon , " and answered : " we did . " time featured jessica 's portrait on its front cover , in which she is seen wearing a gray cap with the inscription , women fly . the headline reads , " who killed jessica ? " the child pilot was also featured on the cover of people . civil litigation lloyd dubroff , jessica 's father , was lisa blair hathaway 's common - law husband when jessica and her brother were born . in 1990 he separated from hathaway , and in 1991 he married then 19 - year - old melinda anne hurst , with whom he had a child in 1992 . in december 1992 , hathaway gave birth to jessica 's full sister , jasmine , conceived while she lived for a time with lloyd and melinda in california . before his death in the crash , lloyd dubroff bought four separate life insurance policies , each for us $ 750 , 000 . two of the policies named hathaway as beneficiary and two named melinda dubroff , so that each was to receive $ 1 . 5 million in the event of his death , ensuring adequate child support for his underage children living with the two women . his grown son and daughter ( both in their 30s ) , from a previous marriage , were not addressed by these policies . after the crash , melinda dubroff sued hathaway for hathaway 's $ 1 . 5 million : melinda dubroff 's attorney roy litherland said in a san mateo county court that the $ 1 . 5 million hathaway was designated was " in excess of any reasonable level of child support . " in december 1996 , lisa hathaway filed a counter - suit against melinda dubroff and lloyd dubroff 's estate for $ 1 . 5 million , the exact amount of money lloyd dubroff intended , saying lloyd dubroff " gave his word he would care for and support [ her ] for the rest and remainder of her natural life . " on december 18 , 1997 , san mateo county superior court judge judith ruled that the insurance benefits should be split equally between the two women , $ 1 . 5 million each , and dismissed the other claims . burial dubroff was buried at mount hope cemetery in pescadero , san mateo county , california , usa .