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FBI Investigates Crash of Small Plane in Connecticut

by VOA News

   The FBI on Wednesday began investigating an apparently intentional
   plane crash in the state of Connecticut, in which a student pilot was
   killed and his instructor was badly injured.

   The National Transportation Safety Board said its initial investigation
   showed the crash Tuesday was the result of deliberate action. The NTSB
   turned the case over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

   The small, twin-engine plane crashed in flames on a busy street in East
   Hartford, near the headquarters of Pratt and Whitney, a company that
   builds airplane engines, about 118 miles (190 kilometers) north of New
   York City.

   The student pilot, Feras Freitekh, a Jordanian national, died in the
   crash. Flight instructor Arian Prevalla suffered critical burns but
   survived.

   Media accounts said Freitekh was frustrated and unwilling to continue
   his aviation studies, but was being pressured to do so by his family.
   The instructor is said to have told authorities there was an
   altercation in the cockpit in which it became clear the young man
   wanted to crash the plane, but that he could not prevent the aircraft
   from going down.

   The plane that crashed, a Piper PA-34, had dual controls. Aviation
   experts quoted by CNN television said the flight instructor could not
   have disabled his student's controls, so if events unfolded as Prevalla
   reputedly told authorities, it would have been "an impossible
   situation."