Record-setting young pilot dies at 26

On Thu, 20 Mar 2008 10:46:04 -0500, Gig 601XL Builder
wrote:

Did she ever go on to get her license in the first place. There is only
one person with the last name Van Meter in data base and his was issued
in 1955.

That's interesting. When I searched the FAA Airmans database, it
returned over 50 records, but none in the USA with a first name
beginning with 'Vic'. The V VAN METER you found

VERNON HOWARD VAN METER
DOI: 7/19/1955
Certificate: PRIVATE PILOT
Rating(s):
PRIVATE PILOT
AIRPLANE SINGLE ENGINE LAND
DOI: 4/25/1955
Certificate: MECHANIC
Rating(s):
MECHANIC
AIRFRAME
POWERPLANT


isn't her father; his name is Jim. But there are two Van Meter
records in Pennsylvania:

ELGIN VAN METER
DOI: 7/19/1955
Certificate: PRIVATE PILOT
Rating(s):
PRIVATE PILOT
AIRPLANE SINGLE ENGINE LAND
AIRPLANE SINGLE ENGINE SEA



ROBIN VAN METER
DOI: 11/26/2004
Certificate: FLIGHT ATTENDANT
Rating(s):
FLIGHT ATTENDANT
GROUPII

It's interesting that Vernon and Elgin both had their certificates
issued on the same day. Perhaps that's just an epoch date for the
database?

JFK Jr's record is still in the database, so it's not an issue of the
records of the deceased being purged. An applicant for an airplane
student pilot certificate must be 16, so Vicki had no certificate when
she made her record setting flights. But she was honored as a pilot:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicky_van_Meter
In 2003 she was featured with 36 other female pilots in the
traveling exhibit Women and Flight — Portrait of Contemporary
Women Pilots.[9][10], based on a book of the same name by Carolyn
Russo.[11]

She served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Moldova after graduating
from Edinboro University with a degree in criminal justice. She
worked as an insurance company investigator and had made plans to
pursue graduate studies.[6] Van Meter died at her home in
Meadville on March 15, 2008 from a self-inflicted gunshot
wound.[1] Her death surprised her family who believed she had been
coping with her depression. She was 26.


Photo:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08078/866086-100.stm
Vicki Van Meter at 12.
She was also one of 37 pilots featured in "Women and Flight --
Portraits of Contemporary Women Pilots," a traveling exhibition
now showing at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.


I guess you'll have to read her book (or ask her flight instructor Bob
Baumgartner) to see if she ever earned her airmans certificate:

http://www.amazon.com/Taking-Flight-...dp/0670862606/

Larry Dighera wrote:
On Thu, 20 Mar 2008 10:46:04 -0500, Gig 601XL Builder
wrote:

Did she ever go on to get her license in the first place. There is only
one person with the last name Van Meter in data base and his was issued
in 1955.

That is strange. I just ran the search again and got over 50 results as
well. In both cases I used "Van Meter" in the last name field as the
only search string.

I did notice that they seem to have done some changes to the the FAA.GOv
site between yesterday morning and now maybe I caught it in an update
glitch.

"Phil J" wrote in message
...
On Mar 18, 3:13 pm, Jim Logajan wrote:
Story on Yahoo:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080318/...obit_van_meter

I'm aware of three people I've known in my life that attempted suicide,
and
sadly one was successful. None of them were attempting to escape physical
pain or fiscal trauma. Sometimes the worst enemy a person has is inside
their mind. :-(

The article says she battled depression and opposed medication. It
doesn't say whether or not she was still flying, but I wonder if she
opposed medication because it would mean the loss of her pilot's
license.

Phil

Avweb had a story about anti-depressants and flying in Austrailia. Why they
are not allowed by the FAA I don't understand, I would think a
"non-depressed" pilot would be safer than a depressed pilot which the study
does show.

http://shorterlink.com/?O9JMUE

On Mar 20, 11:57 am, "Darkwing" theducksmail"AT"yahoo.com wrote:

Avweb had a story about anti-depressants and flying in Austrailia. Why they
are not allowed by the FAA I don't understand, I would think a
"non-depressed" pilot would be safer than a depressed pilot which the study
does show.

http://shorterlink.com/?O9JMUE

Antidepressant drugs are not simple "un-depressers."

They affect various physiological and psychological processes -- some
barely understood.

I'm with the FAA on this one.


Dan Mc

"Dan" wrote in message
...
On Mar 20, 11:57 am, "Darkwing" theducksmail"AT"yahoo.com wrote:

Avweb had a story about anti-depressants and flying in Austrailia. Why
they
are not allowed by the FAA I don't understand, I would think a
"non-depressed" pilot would be safer than a depressed pilot which the
study
does show.

http://shorterlink.com/?O9JMUE

Antidepressant drugs are not simple "un-depressers."

They affect various physiological and psychological processes -- some
barely understood.

I'm with the FAA on this one.


Dan Mc


So you think it is better for a pilot to hide his/her depression and not get
medicated? I think that is a bigger liability than the drugs are but that is
my opinion and the study from Australia supports that.

On Mar 20, 12:11 pm, "Darkwing" theducksmail"AT"yahoo.com wrote:

So you think it is better for a pilot to hide his/her depression and not get
medicated? I think that is a bigger liability than the drugs are but that is
my opinion and the study from Australia supports that.

I did not say that.

I said "(antidepressants) affect various physiological and
psychological processes -- some barely understood."

Someone who is clinically depressed shouldn't be flying, with or
without medication.


Dan Mc

"Dan" wrote in message
...
On Mar 20, 11:57 am, "Darkwing" theducksmail"AT"yahoo.com wrote:

Avweb had a story about anti-depressants and flying in Austrailia. Why
they
are not allowed by the FAA I don't understand, I would think a
"non-depressed" pilot would be safer than a depressed pilot which the
study
does show.

http://shorterlink.com/?O9JMUE

Antidepressant drugs are not simple "un-depressers."

They affect various physiological and psychological processes -- some
barely understood.

I'm with the FAA on this one.



Are you a medical doctor?

"Phil J" wrote in message
...

The article says she battled depression and opposed medication. It
doesn't say whether or not she was still flying, but I wonder if she
opposed medication because it would mean the loss of her pilot's
license.

Yeah, that could be. Pilots are still expected to just suck it up and
keep their mouths shut, which might be a tragic paradox. It suggests that
there might be suicidal people flying who might otherwise be safe and
treatable except they don't want that one last great thing taken from them.

-c

On Mar 20, 6:00*pm, "gatt" wrote:
"Phil J" wrote in message

...

The article says she battled depression and opposed medication. *It
doesn't say whether or not she was still flying, but I wonder if she
opposed medication because it would mean the loss of her pilot's
license.

Yeah, that could be. * *Pilots are still expected to just suck it up and
keep their mouths shut, which might be a tragic paradox. * It suggests that
there might be suicidal people flying who might otherwise be safe and
treatable except they don't want that one last great thing taken from them..

-c

It's a tough issue, and I can see both sides of it. I am glad that
there are studies underway to try to really determine whether or not
these drugs have effects relevant to flying. Given the social stigmas
about psychological problems, I suspect the FAA is a little more
likely to reject these drugs than other types of medication. What we
need is some objective studies so we know what we are really dealing
with.

Phil

"Phil J" wrote in message
...
On Mar 20, 6:00 pm, "gatt" wrote:
"Phil J" wrote in message

...

The article says she battled depression and opposed medication. It
doesn't say whether or not she was still flying, but I wonder if she
opposed medication because it would mean the loss of her pilot's
license.

Yeah, that could be. Pilots are still expected to just suck it up and
keep their mouths shut, which might be a tragic paradox. It suggests that
there might be suicidal people flying who might otherwise be safe and
treatable except they don't want that one last great thing taken from
them.

-c

It's a tough issue, and I can see both sides of it. I am glad that
there are studies underway to try to really determine whether or not
these drugs have effects relevant to flying. Given the social stigmas
about psychological problems, I suspect the FAA is a little more
likely to reject these drugs than other types of medication. What we
need is some objective studies so we know what we are really dealing
with.

Phil

I know the Egypt Air crash is still heavily disputed but ti might be a case
where anti-depressants might have made a difference, we will never know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EgyptAir_Flight_990