This person should not be allowed to pilot a plane again. He or she will no doubt be punished somehow, but shooting down the plane is a knee jerk response. What about collateral damage? What if the flaming hulk crashes into a full school building?

We assume the worst case scenario, because the downside is huge. Most likely the pilot just had no sense at all, so don't let him up in the skies by himself again.

Also, just out of curiousity why send f-16's to escort if their stall speed is 1/2 of the cessna's max speed? Why not Cobra's or Apache's?