Haris Suleman has died in a plane crash shortly after leaving Pago Pago in American Samoa during the Indiana teen's attempt to set a record for around-the-world flight.
Family spokeswoman Annie Hayat said the plane flown by 17-year-old Suleman went down over the Pacific Ocean shortly after leaving Pago Pago, the American Samoa capital, Tuesday night. Suleman and his father, Babar Suleman, were on board, The Associated Press reported.
Hayat said the body of Haris Suleman had been recovered, but crews were still looking for his father.
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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 corporation 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 the state 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 trip was also raising money for the Citizens Foundation, a nonprofit that builds schools in Pakistan.
They planned to return home Sunday.
Haris Suleman told The Indianapolis Star earlier this month that he enjoyed every stop along the trip. The Sulemans had made stops throughout Europe, Africa, Asia and the South Pacific.
"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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