Wednesday, October 3, 2001

The pilot of the recent fair buzzing incident is being charged with two felony charges for terroristic acts while the flight instructor faces only misdemeanor charges. There is something amiss here.

Without attempting to minimize the incredibly stupid decisions and actions of the student pilot, I find it baffling that he is being treated more harshly than the instructor pilot. The instructor, after all, is supposed to be in charge of the aircraft at all times and ultimately responsible for its safe handling. That is his responsibility as the instructor pilot.

It should be noted that the two buzzing incidents were separated by an hour. Can it be possible that these incidents took place outside the acquiescence of the instructor? All he had to do was exercise the adult judgment which his instructor's license demanded and say "no."

I am not proposing that the instructor be treated more harshly than he already is, but I do think the knee-jerk response of authorities, who typically overreact in their treatment of youthful offences in the wake of any tragedy, needs to be reexamined.

If the instructor's conduct merits no more than misdemeanor charges, then so should that of the underage student pilot, regardless of who was actually at the controls. If the incident warrants harsher treatment because of the endangerment to those at the fair, given recent events, then the instructor should share that treatment as the person who was really in command of the aircraft.

Harrison Lobdell III

Fayetteville

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