The situation she got into, needing to be rescued and 1200 miles from the nearest help, would say otherwise. I'll give you brave and adventurous. Wisdom ... based on the evidence ... not so much.

Age, in and of itself, isn't really an issue. Then again if you were on an airliner and two 16 year-old pilots came bopping in there might be questions asked. Of course all worries would evaporate if they said they had 'practiced for two years'.

Yes, there are mature 16 year-olds. And there are immature 40 somethings. But, on the whole, those who are forty are steadier and more reliable than those who are sixteen.

Also, while many military organizations had drum and fife boys as young as eight, and the navy had 'powder boys', typically ten to 16, who ran powder charges from the magazine to the guns, such young kids were not typically sent out alone or put in command. Even our founding fathers, setting the minimum age for a president, understood the concept. And the odds.