If your son took your car without permission or license and then had a wreck. You would be furious at your son. But would you turn them over to the law? Tecnically it not car theft since it happened within family.
The boys took their father plan and sucessfully flew it . That takes some skill. The choice and judgement was bad and not wise ,but what 14 year old shows good judgement all the time?
Airplanes are different from cars. I believe he broke federal laws by breaking security at an airfield and tampering with an airplane.
This may not be as easy as daddy saying, "bygones".
Bad judgement is trying a beer at a party, not stealing an airplane.
I believe we have different attitudes about discipline and punishment.