I hope you all don't mind a random interjection, I stumbled across this forum looking at articles frustrated at the incorrect information and saw people not judging him for his age or ability, just the accident. It was a really nice change to what's been around, so thank you. I know absolutely nothing about planes, just this young man. Very very well.
Everyone seems to be interested in this accident and as enthusiasts and professionals I can appreciate the desire for speculation about what happened, even if I don't fully understand them.
Whilst it was his first solo with the flight school, he'd been up in his first solo almost 2 years previously. He was almost an exact month off that anniversary actually. He was young, and only a week out from his 17th birthday so he had been up in the air for just shy of 3 years. I know you all know what it takes to get up there and you might not think he had enough to do it but I can tell you that kid worked harder than any person I have ever seen anywhere and deserved so much more life than he got. He was an absolute pleasure to know, and pride and joy in my life.