Record-setting young pilot dies at 26

Source: AP

Vicki Van Meter, celebrated for piloting a plane across the country at age 11 and from the U.S. to Europe at age 12, has died of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound, the Crawford County coroner said. She was 26.

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Van Meter made national headlines in 1993 and 1994 when she made her cross-country and trans-Atlantic flights accompanied only by a flight instructor. Her instructors said she was at the controls during the entirety of both flights.

As a sixth-grader in September 1993, Van Meter flew from Augusta, Maine, to San Diego over five days. She had to fight strong headwinds and turbulence that bounced her single-engine Cessna 172 and made her sick.

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Nine months later, Van Meter flew from Augusta to Glasgow, Scotland, and was credited with being the youngest girl to make a trans-Atlantic flight. She battled dizziness brought on by high altitude and declared upon landing: "I always thought it would be real hard and it was."

Later she earned a degree in criminal justice from Edinboro University in Pennsylvania and spent two years with the Peace Corps in Cahul, Moldova. She recently worked as an investigative agent for an insurance company.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080318/ap_on_re_us/obit_van_meter;_ylt=AhMa8CXOrFYhihHKDNxDKI6s0NUE

Tough girl. They have a high drop out rate. Depressing place with many obstacles. Obviosuly, obstacels weren't anything to this woman.

I remember when she was making her flights in the 1990's. Sorry to hear about her death.

this is very very sad - I would bet she was struggling with bipolar or unipolar depression/ Many people who suffer with these illnesses are extraordinarily high achievers. May she rest in peace.

PB

I'm sorry to hear this. Rest in peace, Kim

...the reason she didn't go on the medication is because it isn't FAA approved.

All meds for depression are on the no-no list you look at before renewing a Third Class medical. So is Benadryl.

So, it killed her. Or, you could say the FAA killed her.

Bastards.

When they should be afraid of the people out there who AREN'T talking meds.

...my friend. The FAA's standards are mighty conservative even with the recent reforms. Their standard for blood pressure is 155/95 and I went for my medical on a bad day, scoring 160/100. They deferred my paper and sent me for a complete hypertension workup (three tubes of blood, diabetes test, EKG, the works) and when it came back clean they STILL put me on 10MG of Zestril. I haven't been able to get back for a follow up but I know I'll pass. It's just a matter of getting time to see the AME.

A lot of these guys are former military doctors, and they don't take shit from nobody.

Take your physical don't say anything about the meds. Surprising should be covered by the ADA. People get SSI for alcoholism and drug abuse. Then people who have clinical depression can't take meds that would make it more safe for them to fly. Yet I can drive a fire truck on two different schedule 2 controlled medications. Backwards country we live in. Prayers to her family.

David

Nice stereotyping of disabled folk on SSI. Learn before speaking - or posting

I have uni-polar disorder,and am on medication for it. At her age,I hadn't had any major episodes of depression. I suspect this was her case also. I managed to accumulate close to 2000 hours of flying time over a 10 year period, before my first serious depressive episode. Bad luck for me,my psychiatrist is also the local ME. (note) I see your screen name is a V35B....Nice Aircraft :hi:

...V35B was an aircraft my family owned part of many years ago, but it got sold because one of the guys thought a Baron would be safer to fly into remote parts of Canada for fishing trips.

I've been in the back seat for a number of approaches in it and that son-of-a-bitch does the shimmy sham all the way down the glideslope. Those airplanes require a very specific level of proficiency and it's just too much for some pilots. They're called fork tailed doctor killers for a reason.

I will tell you that when you apply power for takeoff you know you're in a serious machine. Even starting up, it gets your attention.

If the opportunity ever came again to own something like that, I'd go straight tail. There's less to worry about.

Not a good industry to be in if you're clinically depressed. Especially if it was health insurance.