Jessica Dubroff

The National Transportation Safety Board investigated the accident and published a detailed final report eleven months later on March 11, 1997. From the official point of view, the pilot in command was flight instructor Reid, who was the only one on board rated to fly the aircraft. The investigation focused on his decision-making prior to takeoff and his actions once airborne.

On December 18, 1997, San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Judith Kozloski ruled that the $3 million insurance benefits should be equally split between the two women; the other claims were dismissed.

The accident and its associated publicity led to federal legislation to prevent similar "record" attempts by underage pilots from taking place in the future. The legislation passed the House on September 11, 1996, and the Senate on September 18, 1996. On September 27, 1996, differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill were resolved. On October 9, 1996, President Bill Clinton signed the Federal Aviation Reauthorization Act of 1996, including the Child Pilot Safety Act, into law. The statute prohibits anyone who does not hold at least a private pilot certificate and a current medical certificate from manipulating the controls of an aircraft, if that individual "is attempting to set a record or engage in an aeronautical competition or aeronautical feat."

After the crash, Melinda Hurst sued Hathaway for Hathaway's $1.5 million: Hurst's attorney Roy Litherland said in a San Mateo County court that the $1.5 million Hathaway was designated was "in excess of any reasonable level of child support." In December 1996, Lisa Hathaway filed a counter-suit against Melinda Hurst and Lloyd Dubroff's estate for $1.5 million, the exact amount of money Lloyd Dubroff intended, saying Lloyd Dubroff "gave his word he would care for and support [her] for the rest and remainder of her natural life."

Lloyd Dubroff was Lisa Blair Hathaway's common-law husband when Dubroff and her brother were born. In 1990, he separated from Hathaway, and in 1991 he was 52 years old when he married 19-year-old Melinda Anne Hurst, with whom he had a child the following year. In December 1992, Hathaway gave birth to Dubroff's full sister, Jasmine, who was conceived while she lived for a time with Lloyd and Melinda in California.

Jessica Whitney Dubroff (May 5, 1988 – April 11, 1996) was a seven-year-old American pilot trainee who died while attempting to become the youngest person to fly a light aircraft across the United States. On day two of her quest, the Cessna 177B Cardinal single-engine aircraft, piloted by her flight instructor, crashed during a rainstorm immediately after takeoff from Cheyenne Regional Airport in Cheyenne, Wyoming, killing Dubroff, her 57-year-old father, and her flight instructor.

The flight would be made in Reid's Cessna 177B Cardinal, a four-seat single-engine propeller aircraft manufactured in 1975, registered N35207, which like most aircraft had dual flight controls in the front. Dubroff would sit in the front left seat, Reid in the front right, and Lloyd in the back. It was agreed that Reid would be paid for his services at normal flight instruction rates, plus compensation for the layover time. Reid reportedly told his wife that he considered the flight a "non-event for aviation", simply "flying cross country with a 7-year-old sitting next to you and the parents paying for it."