INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An Indiana teenager who was attempting
to set a record for an around-the-world flight was killed when his plane
crashed in the Pacific Ocean, and crews were searching Wednesday for
his father, who was also on board.
Family spokeswoman Annie Hayat
said the plane flown by 17-year-old Haris Suleman went down shortly
after leaving Pago Pago in American Samoa Tuesday night. Hayat said the
body of Haris Suleman had been recovered, but crews were still looking
for Babar Suleman.
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 authorized him to fly an aircraft
over oceans, and planned to be the pilot in command except in an
emergency.
Hiba Suleman told reporters Wednesday that her father
and brother had undergone training in how to handle an ocean landing and
wore protective suits while flying over water.
Federal Aviation
Administration spokesman Ian Gregor in Los Angeles said the
single-engine Hawker Beechcraft plane crashed into the ocean Tuesday
night under unknown circumstances. The tail number provided by the FAA
shows the plane is registered to a limited liability company whose
address matches Babar Suleman’s home address in Plainfield, Indiana,
west of Indianapolis.
U.S. 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 left Indiana on June 19 in
hopes of making the trip in 30 days to set the record for the fastest
circumnavigation around the world 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 nonprofit that builds
schools in Pakistan.
They missed the 30-day timetable, in part due to food-borne illness, but planned to return home Sunday.

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."