A Jordanian immigrant whose legal status in the United States is unknown, intentionally crashed the plane he was flying into the city of East Hartford, Ct . The plane hit right next to the Pratt and Whitney factory which the federal government has classified as “critical infrastructure” due to their work in the area of defense. Feras M. Freitekh was piloting the plane. He was killed in the crash but a second passenger, a flight instructor who told investigators at the scene that the plane was crashed on purpose.
Freiekh entered the United States on a student visa. It has not yet been determined if he was in the US legally or whether he overstayed his visa. The flight instructor was taken to the hospital in very critical condition. No update on his status has been issued. The plane had taken off from a flight school in Hartford earlier today.
The FBI is concerned because the plane went down next to a Pratt & Whitney (P&W) factory, which is classified as “critical infrastructure” by the U.S. government. The P&W factory is a global aviation manufacturer, including aviation parts for the U.S. military.
A P&W spokesman confirmed in a statement, “it does not appear at this time that any Pratt & Whitney employees or contractors were involved. Additionally, there is no impact to our operation here in East Hartford other than restricted traffic flow to the facility’s main entrance on Main Street. We stand ready to assist local officials as needed.”
The police and FBI say they have no motive for the attack. Sure, a refugee from the middle east nearly hits a critical defense target. Nope, can’t think of a reason.