Wreckage found of plane carrying father, son trying to fly around world
Rescue crews off the coast of American Samoa have found some of the wreckage of a single-engine plane carrying a father-son pair who were trying to fly around the world in 30 days, U.S. Coast Guard officials told the Los Angeles Times.
Gene Maestas, a spokesperson for the Coast Guard in Honolulu, said the American Samoa Marine Patrol found the fuselage and other debris from the single-engine Beechcraft that was carrying Babar and Haris Suleman, both of Plainfield, Ind.
Haris, 17, was pronounced dead Wednesday. The search for Babar, 58, continues, but weather conditions have forced the Coast Guard to scale back rescue efforts, Maestas said.
The plane crashed in the ocean less than a mile from Pago Pago International Airport on Tuesday night, Maestas said. Rescue crews have not recovered a recording device from the plane, and Maestas previously said there were no distress calls sent from the plane to the airport tower.
The cause of the crash remains unclear, but the National Transportation Safety Board has launched an investigation.
The father and son took flight on June 21, hoping to make a 25,000-mile trek that would include stops in London, Istanbul and California, according to a news release from the Citizens Foundation, a nonprofit organization that funds education programs for Pakistani children.
Haris, a high school junior, has been flying with his father for a number of years and was supposed to be piloting the plane, according to the foundation’s release.
Follow @JamesQueallyLAT on Twitter for breaking news.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
