‘Ministry following up on death of Jordanian student pilot in US’

AMMAN — The government is following up on a plane crash that killed a Jordanian student pilot in the US on Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

The 28-year-old student, identified as Feras Freitekh, was killed and his instructor was seriously injured when their plane crashed in Hartford.

Two people near the site of the crash were also injured.  

“The Foreign Ministry is following up on the issue with the concerned US authorities. We are being updated with the investigation’s developments,” Spokesperson Sabah Al Rafie told The Jordan Times. 

Although an investigation is under way, new reports are claiming that the incident was an “intentional act”. 

A childhood friend of the deceased, who preferred anonymity, noted that Freitekh, who went to the US to become a pilot, used to have an “intense fascination for flying”. 

“As far as I, and those close to Feras, remember, he has always dreamt of becoming a pilot. It was a passion that stayed with him throughout his life,” he told The Jordan Times.

Freitekh’s profile picture on Facebook shows him kissing the nose of a plane.