Jessica’s passion for aviation began when she got an airplane ride for her sixth birthday (Picture: Lacy Atkins/AP) Jessica Dubroff’s parents always wanted her to fly free. Delivered in a birthing pool without a doctor or midwife present, she was the daughter of parents who preferred to live outside the mainstream. Born in Massachusetts in 1988, and moved to California when she was four, Jessica’s parents split up early, but remained close. She grew up in a house without a television alongside her artist and spiritual healer mother, Lisa Blair Hathaway. Along with her older brother Joshua and younger sister Jasmine, Jessica and her siblings were raised differently from most children. They did not play with toys or read children’s books. Instead, they were given tools to work with and household chores from an early age. By the age of seven, Jessica was unusually responsible for a child her age. She delivered newspapers on her bicycle, helped neighbours weed their gardens, and donated half of her monthly allowance to charity. Neighbours remembered her as a loving, happy and helpful little girl. Yet she had no classmates, because her parents did not allow her or her siblings to attend the local elementary school – nor did they follow a formal homeschooling curriculum. Instead, they believed flying offered a better education than a classroom. Lisa later explained: “They’re getting a tremendous education from having their lives be in the real world. What it takes to get this flight scheduled and done is much better than sitting in a math classroom.” Jessica’s passion for aviation began after receiving an airplane ride for her sixth birthday. Soon afterwards, her father business consultant Lloyd Dubroff paid $50 an hour for her twice weekly flying lessons with instructor Joe Reid. Not long afterwards, Lloyd came up with an ambitious idea: Jessica would attempt to become the youngest person to fly a light aircraft across America. Unsurprisingly, it was a plan that quickly attracted national media attention. Jessica and her father had planned for the 6,900-mile journey to take eight days (Picture: Reuters) Lloyd told television reporters: ‘I asked her if that was something she’d like to do. I said I would fund it if she wanted to do that, and she said she really would. I think the main thing is that she’s going to meet a lot of new people who think differently than we think here in California, who have different value systems and look at the world differently. I think that’s really going to expand her horizons.’ To accompany the journey, Lloyd coined the slogan “Sea to Shining Sea” and produced baseball caps and T-shirts bearing the motto. The planned 6,900-mile coast-to-coast trip in flight instructor Joe Reid’s Reid’s Cessna 177B Cardinal, was expected to take around eight days and comprised a number of stages. with stops in Florida, Texas and Arizona. Standing just over 4ft tall, Jessica used a booster seat so she could see over the light aircraft’s instrument panel. Before her departure, the little girl gave a series of television interviews. Her answers were brief, and while she said she was looking forward to the journey, some felt her reserved demeanour contrasted with the excitement surrounding the event. Jessica as a toddler with her mother, Lisa, who believed aviation was a great way for children to learn about the world (Picture: John Storey/Getty Images) Dressed in a leather bomber jacket and a red baseball cap embroidered with the words “Women Fly”, television crews filmed her inspecting the aircraft and fuel levels before departure. Much of the world’s media described Jessica as the ‘world’s youngest pilot’, despite her was not legally able to be a pilot because of her age. Meanwhile, the Guinness Book of World Records had already discontinued its “Youngest Pilot” categories in 1989 over concerns that they encouraged dangerous attempts by children. The journey began in April 10, 1996. Travelling with Jessica were her father, Lloyd, and the flight instructor, Joe, who had given the little girl approximately 35 hours of flight instruction. The aircraft was fitted with dual controls, allowing him to take over whenever necessary. As well-wishers gathered behind bunting holding signs reading ‘Good Luck Jessica’, her hair whipped in the wind while her father climbed into the back seat and Reid took his place beside her in the cockpit. One reporter asked, Do you ever get scared up there? No,’ Jessica replied simply. Jessica with her dad Lloyd on the day they departed from Half Moon Bay, California (Picture: Lacy Atkins/AP) Speaking to reporters before take-off, Lloyd said: ‘She’s really quite good. She handles the plane very smoothly. She thinks ahead. Very early, when I saw her taking lessons, there was no question she was in charge of the aircraft. ‘She’s seven. Her mind wanders… but all in all she’s really coming along as a pilot.’ The first day’s flying was hampered by poor weather. A thunderstorm moved in from the northwest as the small four-seat aircraft battled rain and winds of up to 30mph. On the second day of the journey, shortly after taking off from Cheyenne, Wyoming, the aircraft encountered severe weather. As Joe attempted to turn back to the airport, the plane appeared to stall in midair before plunging almost vertically into the ground. Jessica, her father and instructor were all killed instantly. Following the little girl’s death, earlier comments took on a heartbreaking significance. Jessica and her father were buried side-by-side, their shared headstone was engraved with the image of an aircraft (Picture: Lacy Atkins/AP) In Cheyenne, Lloyd had told journalists: ‘This started off as a father-daughter adventure, and it’s gotten wonderfully out of hand.’ Jessica herself had told The New York Times: ‘I’m going to fly till I die.’ At her funeral, Jessica’s small white coffin was decorated with flowers and a blue airplane. She and her father were buried side-by-side in a California cemetery, their shared headstone engraved with the image of an aircraft. The following year, federal safety investigators concluded that poor weather and her flight instructor’s bad judgment were to blame for the crash. Pressure to keep to a schedule on the highly-publicised attempt for Jessica to become the youngest person to fly across the country may have contributed to the decision, the National Transportation Safety Board said in Washington. At the crash site, mourners left flowers, balloons and gifts. When Jessica’s mother visited it, one young boy offered her a teddy bear, but Lisa gently declined, explaining that her children did not play with toys. In the aftermath of the crash, the tearful mother had told the Associated Press: ‘I beg people to let children fly if they want to fly. Clearly I would want all my children to die in a state of joy. I mean, what more could I ask for? ‘I would prefer it was not at age seven but, God, she went with her joy and her passion, and her life was in her hands.’