Pago Pago International Airport News

USCG, Agencies Search for Downed Plane Near American Samoa

Coast Guard and local agencies are responding to a plane crash near Pago Pago International Airport after a single-engine plane crashed into the water Tuesday night. Coast Guard watchstanders at the Joint Rescue Coordination Center in Honolulu received notification from the Regional Command Center in New Zealand that a Beechcraft Bonanza with two passengers aboard crashed into the water approximately one mile from shore at 9:55 p.m. One passenger, 17-year-old Haris Suleman, was recovered unresponsive by the American Samoa Marine Patrol. An HC-130 Hercules airplane crew from Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point launched at 9:35 p.m. (HST) and is on-scene along with an American Samoa Marine Patrol boat searching for the missing passenger, 58-year-old Babar Suleman.