dear controller
as a pilot, the safest place to be is directly over an airport.
airplanes rarely climb vertically ( like a rocket).
if your engine quits, you are over a good landing spot...declare and emergency and everyone must yield to you.
Now, in some situations, other planes fly directly over the airport ( in an uncontrolled environment) to examine the wind sock, pattern indicators and the like, so one should watch out.
One should be outside the airport traffic area, or whatever it is called now, or with proper clearance from local ATC.