Sea-Tac Airplane Theft Spurs My Memory

The plane theft and subsequent crash at Sea Tac was incredible, but it was not the first time that I had heard about someone with no flying experience stealing a plane.  In 8th grade, I had gotten to be friends with a boy named Todd Best.  Todd and I and a group of other friends would hang out after school or go to each other's houses.  Todd told me  of how unhappy he was at home and that he had a dad that flew airplanes.
One day in my English class, someone said that Todd was in a plane crash and nearly dead.  In the middle of the night, Todd and a friend snuck into Martin Field,  a small airport in College Place.  Apparently, thinking that he had seen enough of his father flying and perhaps, having worked controls under his supervision, he thought he could fly to California.  Todd took what I had heard was a brand new airplane and with his buddy, had started the engine and had begun to take off.  How he would navigate the plane to it's proposed destination was probably not considered.  Nor was the fact that he would probably face police and an angry father.
Apparently the plane hit a tree, crashed and burst into flames.  The two boys were rescued and were sent to the Shriner's Hospital in Spokane to recover from burns.
Todd would die from his injuries, the other boy, I would later hear, would survive.  It was the first time a schoolmate would die and it was a very devastating experience.