16-year-old pilot, crash, 1 fatal

I am teaching a 17 year old at the moment. You have to spend A LOT of extra time cementing the responsibility they are being given. I have told them stories of others who have crashed and died to scare the crap out of them from doing stupid things. At the end of the day, they are still a teenager. Important to remember.
 
Flying an airplane isn't all that hard really. The mental aspect is probably harder to manage and I'm not sure age has a ton to do with it. We give Gulley a ration of scatology and have for years - with good reason I might add - but meeting him once and having BBQ I would have let Maggie go fly with him most likely. He carried himself in such a way that I wouldn't have been concerned about his mental state/maturity in an airplane. Just based on interactions on JC there are people with (at the time) lots more experience that I wouldn't have let Maggie fly with. Not sure age has a lot to do with it.

Disclaimer - this kid may have just had an unfortunate mechanical issue or something. Not talking about this specific wreck.
 
I've taught fair amount "solo at 16" students. Honestly, they were some of the best students I ever taught. Much sharper and resilliant than most adults. Students that young are either total flakes and never make it to solo (usually because someone else is making them be there) or you have 100% of their undivided attention for a couple hours. No need to go all "red asphalt" on them. Just review and discuss accident reports like you would with anyone else. Most teenagers do have a sense of their own mortality, they just have a deeper threshold to cross to get out of their comfort zone than adults. In a learning environment like flight training, if you want them to act like adults, treat them like it. Students learn much better when they respect the airplane and their teacher rather than fear them. There is no faster way to lose your credibility with a teenager than to keep reminding them that they are one.

As good as they may seem, they're sill students, no matter what their age may be. When it hits the fan, they still have a very limited capacity on what they can handle. Its not necessarily their inability to perform a task, but the inexperience that prevents them from recognizing something is wrong in the first place.
 
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I did my PPL from 14 to 18. At the start it was fun and got more serious, and though frustrating at times, was quite an achievement, especially as I didn't drive until age 21.

I think solo has to be carefully managed though, but it'll be interesting to see the outcome.
 
mrivc211 said:
I am teaching a 17 year old at the moment. You have to spend A LOT of extra time cementing the responsibility they are being given. I have told them stories of others who have crashed and died to scare the crap out of them from doing stupid things. At the end of the day, they are still a teenager. Important to remember.
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Depends on the person.

I agree with what 22L says almost verbatim.

-Fox
 
Very sad. Condolences to the family. I suspect his CFI is doing some deep soul-searching wondering what he could have done better with this kid. Not that it is his fault, but I know I would be doing that right now.
 
mrivc211 said:
I am teaching a 17 year old at the moment. You have to spend A LOT of extra time cementing the responsibility they are being given. I have told them stories of others who have crashed and died to scare the crap out of them from doing stupid things. At the end of the day, they are still a teenager. Important to remember.
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Unfortunately, even with the most mature 17 year old who takes it as seriously as one can, their brain is simply in a constant state of change and they literally live in a different world than us. Jeez all the dumb stuff I did when I was 17 that seemed so reasonable at the time....
 
It's not just a maturity issue at 16 years old, it's a matter of lack of certain experience(s) upon which to draw from. You can be "mature' for your age and still lack experience in many, many things and still not be handle certain circumstances because of your lack of experience. At 16, while you are on your way to adulthood, you are still in many ways, a "kid". You don't have all the coping mechanisms/skills nor the same focus and retention values (which may all fly out the window during a stress situation or an emergency, or some unexpected situation that you are suddenly thrust into) as an adult generally does.

Maturity is a process and I don't care how mature you feel you were at a young age, when you look back in time many years later, you realize you were not as together as you thought you were. That's just natural, it happens to everyone. Confidence is another issue. As a teenager, no matter how you may appear on the "outside", you just do not have the same level of confidence as you will as an "adult", years later, nor will you have the same level of wisdom as a normal adult.

"Neuroscientists now know that brain maturation continues far later into development than had been believed previously. Significant changes in brain anatomy and activity are still taking place during young adulthood, especially in prefrontal regions that are important for planning ahead, anticipating the future consequences of one’s decisions, controlling impulses, and comparing risk and reward. Indeed, some brain regions and systems do not reach full maturity until the early or mid-20s.

First, different brain regions and systems mature along different timetables. There is no single age at which the adolescent brain becomes an adult brain. Systems responsible for logical reasoning mature by the time people are 16, but those involved in self-regulation are still developing in young adulthood."

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/30/when-do-you-become-an-adult/?_r=0

We won't really know what happened or why until the investigation is complete so I don't care to speculate on what may have happened.

It's terrible that this happened to this young man, and my thoughts are for his parents and family.
 
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Flying at 16 is not a problem at all. Many 16 year olds are responsible enough to do it, some aren't. I see it more as a responsibility and maturity thing rather than an age and skill correlation.

I am, of course, not referring to this sad accident as I know nothing about it. I am merely commenting on some posts above.

I taught a few younger students who were mature enough and some who were not.
 
As I stated above, it's just not a "maturity" issue (regardless of age), IMO. It is not having the experience to be able to handle any and all issues/emergencies that may arise, as well as the skill sets honed over years to aid in those events which may be the problem.
 
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