An American teenager who tried to set a record for an around-the-world flight was killed along with his father when their plane crashed in the Pacific Ocean.
The plane flown by 17-year-old Haris Suleman went down shortly after leaving Pago Pago in American Samoa on Tuesday night. The wreckage and bodies were being recovered by authorities.
Haris Suleman and his father, Babar, left Indiana state on 19 June in hopes of making the trip in 30 days to set the record for the fastest circumnavigation in a single-engine airplane with the youngest pilot in command to do so. The father and son were using the trip to raise money for the Citizens Foundation, a non-profit organisation that builds schools in Pakistan. They missed the 30-day timetable, in part due to illness, but had planned to return home on Sunday.
The teenager's sister, Hiba Suleman, said the trip had been a dream of her father's for years and that her brother was also excited about it. Haris Suleman had recently obtained his pilot's license and instrument rating, which authorised him to fly an aircraft over oceans, and planned to be the pilot in command except in an emergency.
Her father and brother had undergone training in how to handle an ocean landing and wore protective suits while flying over water. She said it was unusual for them to take off at night but didn't know whether that contributed to the crash.
"With a trip like this there's always a risk and they did prepare for that risk. You can plan all you want but sometimes things just don't happen the way you planned," she said.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor in Los Angeles said the single-engine Hawker Beechcraft plane crashed into the ocean under unknown circumstances. US coast guard spokeswoman Petty Officer Melissa McKenzie said witnesses reported seeing the Honolulu-bound plane crash about a mile from shore shortly after taking off from Pago Pago international airport.
The Sulemans had made stops throughout Europe, Africa, Asia and the South Pacific, and the teenager told the Indianapolis Star earlier this month that he was enjoying each visit. "There is so much beauty and culture in each country that I couldn't possibly witness all that I want to in the span of two days," he said in an email to the newspaper. "That's the maximum time we've been able to spend at a stop."
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