Father's record-breaking dream 'led to seven-year-old daughter's tragic death'

While many parents will have high hopes and aspirations for their children, this dream tragically proved fatal for a father and his young daughter.

Seven-year-old Jessica Dubroff and her father Lloyd were both avid flying fans, and hoped that the young girl could become the youngest person to pilot a trans-continental flight.

Jessica started pilot lessons at the age of six, and by the time she was seven, her father and flight instructor Joe Reid devised a plan for the three of them to travel almost 7,000 miles in an eight-day adventure which they named 'The Sea to Shining Sea'.

Starting at California's Half Moon Bay, the trio wanted to travel to Massachusetts.

After concocting the plan, Lloyd alerted the media - who had already expressed an interest in Jessica and her sky-high ambitions. He's thought to made a handful of media deals, including with ABC News who gave Lloyd a video camera and blank cassettes to record the flight.

Part of the plan was for the seven-year-old girl to commandeer the Cessna 177B Cardinal single-engine aircraft while carrying both her father and instructor, despite Jessica having only 33 hours flight time under her belt.

The aircraft reportedly had dual flight controls that her instructor Joe would use in an emergency situation.

They set off on their eight-day journey on April 10, 1996, despite the fact that the Guinness World Records has expressed safety concerns about the plan.

#OTD in 1996: a Cessna 177 [N35207] crashes in Wyoming, U.S, killing all 3 aboard, including Jessica Dubroff, a 7 year old attempting to be the youngest ever person to fly across the US. Report deemed that pilot (not Jessica) attempted to take-off in bad weather and lost control. pic.twitter.com/Y7P8VOeGtk

— Air Safety #OTD by Francisco Cunha (@OnDisasters) April 10, 2020

The first leg of their travels was a success and the trio safely made it to Cheyenne, Wyoming, where they were set to stop for the night before another day of flying.

The following day's weather forecast was not in their favor though, so much so they'd been urged to delay their flight.

But they ignored the advice and decided to go take to the skies once more - a decision that ended up being fatal.

With the compromising weather conditions in mind, it's believed that Joe was assisting Jessica with the takeoff.

The plane got around 100 feet into the air when the aircraft all of a sudden started to descend, ultimately crashing into a residential street.

Jessica, her father and flight instructor were all instantly killed.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) went on to conduct an investigation into the crash and found a series of different things played part.

As per the NTSB report, the weather, Jessica's lack of experience, and the young girl's fatigue were contributing factors.

"The airplane experienced strong crosswinds, moderate turbulence and gusty winds during its takeoff and attempted climb, and the pilot in command was aware of these adverse wind conditions prior to executing the takeoff," part of the summary stated.

It added: "The high density altitude and possibly the pilot in command's limited experience with this type of takeoff contributed to the loss of airspeed that led to the stall."

It also labeled Joe and Lloyd's plan as 'overly ambitious' and that their 'desire to adhere to it may have contributed to the pilot in command's decision to take off under the questionable conditions at Cheyenne'.