A US teenage pilot attempting to set a round-the-world flight record and his father were killed when his plane crashed off the coast of American Samoa on Tuesday night.

The single engine plane flown by Haris Suleman, 17, went down shortly after leaving Pago Pago on Tuesday night.

Family spokeswoman Annie Hayat says Haris Suleman's body had been recovered, but crews are still looking for father Babar Suleman.

At the time of the crash Suleman had been attempting to become the youngest pilot ever to complete the journey.

Mr Suleman's sister, Hiba Suleman, says the trip had been a dream of her father's for years and that her brother was also excited about it.

"He was loved by everyone. He was involved in school activities. Just had a lot of supporters for his trip. Teachers... people he would meet... just on the street... he just won them over," she said.

Mr Suleman's flight was raising funds for The Citizens Foundation, a non-profit that promotes equality education and builds schools in Pakistan.

American branch director Daniel Moorani says he is devastated by the news and that Mr Suleman was "a magnificent young man".

He says Mr Suleman and his father were on one of the last legs of their trip, having just left to go to Hawaii, then onto San Francisco and finally to Indianapolis, where they started.

APTN/AFP