Claris Law Legal Blogging Community

Editor: James T. Crouse
Profession: Aviation Accident Attorney

Category: Aviation News

Frieda is saddened to report the little girl who made history and headlines in 1990s for being not only the first girl to fly across the U.S. in 1993 at 11 years old, she was the youngest girl to fly trans-Atlantic in 1994 when she was 12 - is dead at the age of 26. What makes this story even sadder is that she died from an apparent self inflicted gunshot wound - a suicide. Her name was Vicki Van Meter.

What happens to a young girl who once was quoted as saying, "If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything" and who wanted to become an astronaut?
She went on to earn a degree in criminal justice, spent 2 years in the Peace Corps, and was applying to grad schools to study psychology.

Her brother said she had been fighting depression, but her family thought she was dealing with her problems, although she opposed taking medication. Having known pilots who quit flying and who sometimes had trouble replacing the power they had at the controls, the thrill of the flight, the peace of being in the air, and the satisfaction of a safe landing - the gamut of human emotions - Frieda wonders if experiencing such thrills and accomplishments at such an early age left an emptiness inside that could not be filled - her family stated she was unhappy - could this "void" be reason?
We see this syndrome - if that's what one would call it - with child actors. The fame, the glory, the adrenalin rush once experienced is hard to replace when it's no longer there. This has to be more intense when one experiences all this when one is in their formative years of development - what does a child do when life becomes routine and "normal". What does a parent do when they have a child who has strong interests and talent and wants to "soar" - in the air, on the stage, or elsewhere?

Vicki's record as the youngest girl to fly across the U.S. was broken by and 9 year-old in 1994. In 1996, 7-year-old Jessica Dubroff, her father, and the instructor were killed in a crash in Wyoming as Jessica was trying to beat the 9 yr. olds record. That put and end to the child phenomenon - Congress quickly passed a bill banning record-setting attempts by unlicensed pilots. This bill will hopefully save lives, but it came too late for Jessica and possibly for Vicki.