THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 24, 1996 TAG: 9604240003
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 31 lines
It is tragic when anyone, especially a child, dies in an accident. At least Jessica Dubroff was doing something she apparently enjoyed. However, we must remember that there was only one pilot aboard her plane when it crashed, and he was solely and totally responsible for all aspects of the ill-fated flight. Her flight instructor, as the pilot in command, was obligated by FAA regulations to check many items before taking off. Among them were weight and balance calculations, prevailing and forecasted weather conditions, the altitude of the airport and the condition of the aircraft.
He also was charged with using good judgment in considering the age and skill of the student operating the controls. Somewhere in his flight preparations he dropped the ball. This is inexcusable in a certified flight instructor who makes a living teaching the rest of us pilots how to perform these functions. He paid the price for his mistakes.
We may never know who was operating the aircraft at the point of impact, but I suspect he was trying to use ``superior flying skill'' to recover from the deeply flawed hole in his ``poor judgment skills.''
DANIEL E. CLEMENTS
Chesapeake, April 17, 1996 by CNB