Teen trying to set record killed in plane crash over Pacific Ocean

Haris Suleman, 17, was attempting to fly around the world in 30 days when his plane crashed in the Pacific Ocean, killing him, and leaving his father Babar Suleman, also on board, missing.

|
Robert Scheer/The Indianapolis Star/AP
Babar Suleman and son Haris Suleman, 17, stand next to their plane at an airport in Greenwood, Ind. before taking off for an around-the-world flight June 19. On Wednesday, a single-engine plane with two aboard crashed in waters off American Samoa, with a registration number matching the plane flown by the Indiana teen attempting to fly around the world in 30 days.

A US 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 onboard.

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 Pakistani-born 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. 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.

The Sulemans left Indiana 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 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.

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 BabarSuleman's home address in Plainfield, Indiana.

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 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."

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Teen trying to set record killed in plane crash over Pacific Ocean
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2014/0723/Teen-trying-to-set-record-killed-in-plane-crash-over-Pacific-Ocean
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe