UPDATE: Connecticut plane crash appears to be suicide, not terror act

By: News Staff

The Associated Press

news@abc6.com

EAST HARTFORD, CT — A law enforcement official has identified the flight instructor and student pilot aboard a small plane that crashed in Connecticut.              

The official tells The Associated Press that instructor Arian Prevalla survived the crash Tuesday in East Hartford near jet-engine maker Pratt & Whitney, while student Feras Freitekh was killed.

The official wasn’t authorized to disclose the information and spoke on condition of anonymity.              

Authorities say Prevalla told them the crash was intentional, but officials say there is no indication of terrorism.             

Prevalla’s social media pages indicate he is president of the American Flight Academy. They say he is originally from Albania and now lives in Hartford.              

Public records show Freitekh has lived in the Chicago suburb of Orland Hills since 2013 and received a federal private pilot certificate last year.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says the FBI had taken over the investigation into a fatal plane crash in Connecticut because of indications that it could have been a criminal act.                 

The Piper PA-34 Seneca crashed Tuesday afternoon as both Freitekh and Prevalla were trying to land at Brainard Airport in Hartford.

It crashed near the headquarters of Pratt & Whitney, which makes military and commercial jet engines.             

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