Editor:

There is no reason for a law legislating children flying airplanes. Now, just because there is one accident involving a child "pilot," some would blindly conclude that a law needs to be passed to keep children from flying planes, as though passing a law is the answer to all of society's problems. If you think about the costs of flying an airplane, it is vastly less accessible than driving a car. Also, this would be a law that would be pointless and have no possible means by which to enforce it.

Currently, the pilot has the ability to let anyone take the controls of the plane. Bear in mind that the pilot is ultimately responsible for his passengers' safety and has to make such decisions accordingly. My family is in the light aircraft business, and I have taken the controls of a plane many times, many before I was 16. Really, it is very safe provided the pilot is alert and takes proper precautions to make the situation safe.

When you are up in a light aircraft, there aren't any aircraft police patrolling the skies checking to see if you have your seat belts on, to see if your license and registration is current, or seeing if you have relinquished the controls of the airplane to a child. Any law to attempt to regulate this would be as frivolous as the Brady Bill. This is simply no way to enforce such a regulation, short of not allowing anyone under the age of 16 in private aircraft. But, you can't do that as airplanes are private property.

To take flying lessons, as the young lady in the crash was doing, typically costs about $40 to $50 an hour to charter the aircraft, then another $50 to $80 an hour to hire the instructor. Fuel cost can be as low as $2 a gallon. To fly across the U.S. would take anywhere from 30 to 50 hours of flying, depending on the airplane. Do the math. Flying an airplane is not something any average teenager can simply just go out and do. Airplanes are simply not as accessible as automobiles.

In rural areas, kids not much older than the young lady in the recent plane crash drive tractors as a part of their everyday life. Granted, driving a tractor is a lot easier than flying a plane, but tractors aren't any less dangerous. Should we restrict this as well?

Hasn't anyone's parent ever let them sit on their lap and steer while on the highway for a while? And what about off-roading? I've been driving many times, well before I had either a license or a permit.

Passing a law to further regulate one of the most heavily regulated portions of our society would be absolutely frivolous and a waste of taxpayers' money.

Travis Hoffman
undeclared freshman