Father’s record-breaking dream “led to tragic death of seven-year-old daughter”

While many parents have high hopes and desires for their children, that dream tragically proved fatal for one father and his young daughter.

Seven-year-old Jessica Dubroff and her father Lloyd were both avid aviation fans and hoped the young girl could become the youngest person to fly a transcontinental flight.

Jessica began piloting lessons at the age of six, and when she was seven, her father and flight instructor Joe Reid devised a plan for the three of them to fly nearly 7,000 miles in an eight-day adventure they called “The Sea.” shining sea’.

From Half Moon Bay, California, the trio wanted to travel to Massachusetts.

After hatching the plan, Lloyd alerted the media, who had already expressed interest in Jessica and her sky-high ambitions. He is believed to have secured a handful of media deals, including with ABC News, which gave Lloyd a video camera and blank tapes to record the flight.

Part of the plan was for the seven-year-old girl to command the single-engine Cessna 177B Cardinal aircraft while having both her father and her instructor on board, even though Jessica only had 33 hours of flying time under her belt.

The plane reportedly had two flight controls that her flight instructor, Joe, would use in an emergency situation.

They set off on their eight-day trip on April 10, 1996, despite Guinness World Records raising safety concerns about the plan.

The first leg of their journey was a success and the trio made it safely to Cheyenne, Wyoming, where they were scheduled to spend a night before another day of flying.

However, the weather forecast for the next day was not in their favor, forcing them to postpone their flight.

But they ignored the advice and decided to take to the skies again – a decision that was ultimately fatal.

Given the difficult weather conditions, it is believed that Joe supported Jessica during the launch.

The plane was flying about 100 feet in the air when it suddenly began to descend and eventually crashed into a residential street.

Jessica, her father and her flight instructor were all killed instantly.

The wreckage of the plane (National Transportation Safety Board)

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) then conducted an investigation into the accident and determined that a number of different things played a role.

According to the NTSB report, the weather, Jessica’s lack of experience and the young girl’s fatigue contributed.

“The aircraft experienced strong crosswinds, moderate turbulence and gusty winds during takeoff and climb attempt, and the pilot-in-command was aware of these adverse wind conditions before conducting the takeoff,” part of the summary reads.

It added: “The high density of flights and possibly the pilot-in-command’s limited experience with this type of takeoff contributed to the loss of airspeed that resulted in the stall.”

Additionally, Joe and Lloyd’s plan was described as “overly ambitious” and their “desire to stick to it may have contributed to the pilot-in-command’s decision to take off in the questionable conditions at Cheyenne.”