Jordanian student crashed plane deliberately in Connecticut, investigators say

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EAST HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT — Investigators believe a twin-engine plane that crashed on a street in a suburban Connecticut town was deliberately taken down. The Piper PA-34 Seneca plane tore through power lines before catching fire and plunging into the ground in East Hartford on Tuesday. Student Feras Freitekh, a Jordanian national, was killed. Flying instructor Arian Prevalla, originally from Albania, survived with serious burns. Prevalla told investigators the two men had a heated exchange before his student intentionally sent the plane spiralling toward the ground, the New York Times reported. The plane burst into a fireball just yards from a minivan loaded with passengers, but amazingly there were no further casualties. The plane crashed near aerospace defense contractor Pratt & Whitney, which local police called “critical infrastructure.” Based on the flying instructor’s account, the FBI has taken over the case and federal agents are now trying to establish a motive. They are investigating whether Freitekh had mental health problems and was trying to commit suicide. Family members in Jordan said 28-year-old Freitekh dreamed of becoming a pilot and was not at all religious, so religion wasn’t an issue, according to the New York Times.