EAST HARTFORD, Conn. — A flight instructor and a student pilot had an altercation inside the cockpit of a small plane, and the instructor was unable to regain control from the trainee before the plane crashed near the headquarters of a military jet engine manufacturer, killing the student, a U.S. official familiar with the investigation into what happened said Wednesday. The Jordanian embassy in Washington said it was in touch with US authorities over “the tragic incident.”

Police said the plane crashed near Pratt and Whitney, an aerospace company that manufactures engines for military and commercial aircraft. The official said it appeared that the student pilot, whose name was not released, was frustrated with his family and had said he was being forced to become a pilot. The flight instructor is Arian Prevalla, and the student was Feras Freitekh, said a law enforcement official, who wasn’t authorized to disclose the information and spoke on the condition of anonymity. Officials in a Chicago suburb say there is no record a student pilot killed in a small plane crash in Connecticut ever lived in the village, even though it's been identified as his home. NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said on Wednesday it believes a small plane crash in East Hartford, Connecticut, was due to an intentional act and is transferring the investigation to the FBI. East Hartford Mayor Marcia Leclerc told The Associated Press that the badly burned pilot told authorities the crash Tuesday was not an accident, but she cautioned that investigators have not confirmed that information. Authorities said a student pilot and an instructor were trying to land the Piper PA-34 Seneca at Brainard Airport in Hartford when it struck a utility pole in East Hartford and crashed onto the road at around 4 p.m., bursting into flames. Police Chief Scott Sansom said the path the plane took “could have been much worse.”

“So we’re very fortunate in that sense,” he said. Police say the pilot was hospitalized with serious burns and the passenger was in the wreckage and presumed dead.
Jordanian student pilot Feras Freitekh kills himself and attempts to kill his flight instructor, when their small Piper PA-34 Seneca airplane crashes in East Hartford Connecticut. Investigators conclude the crash was an intentional act motivated by suicide based on the surviving instructor who said there was an argument and struggle for control. The FBI investigates. Reuters