I hate maths and subsequently i fucking hate physics, but even with my pathetically bad high school maths experience i can see how the plane will both generate forward movement, create the necessary air flow, and not be hindered in any meaningful way by the treadmill.
I think it really stems from people completely missing the point about thrust, how planes generate movement, and air flow. It"s a brilliant question to give kids because it will expose the flaws in our thinking because we apply knowledge about how we normally move (ground based movement like walking, riding a bike, driving in a car) to another movement that operates in a different manner.
I have been trying to think of a decent way to explain this to people but to be honest if you can"t do some reading and figure it out yourself, you are a bit of a deadshit.
I just thought that a hovercraft operates in a similar way, except for the whole flying thing but it does generate it"s movement via wind movement, but i have a feeling people will get even more retarded discussing that too...