Haris Suleman, 17, was raising money for schools in Pakistan.

By The American Bazaar Staff

WASHINGTON, DC: Search is still on for Babar Suleman, the 58-year-old father of the 17-year-old Pakistani American teenager Haris Suleman, from Plainfield, Indiana, who tragically crashed a single-engine aircraft he was flying, off the waters off American Samoa, en route to Hawaii, and died.

Haris was attempting to set a world record for fastest circumnavigation around the world in a single-engine airplane – a Beechcraft A36 Bonanza – and was accompanied by his father, who was also the co-pilot. The duo were also trying to achieve the feat to raise money, fundraise for the Citizens Foundation, which has built 1,000 schools in Pakistan.

They had taken off from Plainfield on June 19, and visited Canada, Iceland, England, Greece, Egypt and the UAE before reaching Pakistan. The last leg of the trip included Bangladesh, Indonesia, Australia, Fiji, American Samoa, Kiribati, Hawaii and California, which they had intended to cover by July 20, and reach back Plainfield. But it was not to be so.

Their plane crashed about 10:15 p.m. American Samoan time Tuesday, just 20 minutes after taking off from that island en route to Hawaii, Haris’s sister, 26-year-old Hiba Suleman, said Wednesday, reported USA today.

The family was notified of the crash by the U.S. Coast Guard early Wednesday, Indianapolis time, and the Coast Guard had searched about six hours, found Haris but was still looking for her father, Hiba Suleman said.

On Tuesday, several hours before leaving American Samoa, Haris still held on to his enthusiasm for the journey, taking time to tweet that “Pago Pago is without a doubt (among the) top 5 places I’ve been this summer.”

According to reports, the plane’s “black box” was pinging, allowing searchers to home in on it and, the family hopes, find Babar Suleman.

The USA Today report quoting Hiba Suleman said the duo had taken an open-water survival training course before they began their adventure, wore ocean survival “Gumby suits” and that her father also wore a locator beacon on his person. She last spoke to her father Tuesday morning, local time, and said he told her he was watching the weather and would not leave American Samoa if threatening weather were still in the area.

According to the Associated Press, Hiba Suleman was at a conference in Washington, D.C., Wednesday, when her mother Shamim Suleman, contacted her. Hiba hurriedly flew back to Indianapolis. Her older brother, Cyrus Suleman, 29, was in London and Wednesday was on his way to bring Haris’s body home, she said.

Haris was going to be a senior at Plainfield High School in the fall. He is being remembered as an outstanding student and a talented soccer player who played for the junior varsity soccer team, said his coach David Knueve, According to USA Today.

The Plainfield Community School Corp. released a statement saying they were “deeply saddened to learn of the death of one of our students. … Haris’s adventurous spirit and huge heart led him to reaching for his personal goal while also seeking to raise funds and awareness for schools supported by The Citizens Foundation.”