By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
Investigators are coming to a chilling conclusion about the small plane crash in East Hartford, Conn.: It appears to be “the result of an intentional act,” the National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday.
The NTSB plans to hand over the case to the FBI, ABC News reports.
Earlier Wednesday, the agency said, “If there is reason for us to believe that a criminal event has occurred, then we will take formal steps to transfer the investigation to the FBI.”
The crash killed a student pilot and seriously injured the instructor when the plane hit a utility pole and caught fire.
Investigators are looking into information that the student pilot was a Jordanian national.
“We are in touch with the relevant U.S. authorities on this matter as they undergo their investigation,” the Embassy of Jordan in Washington D.C. wrote in a statement.
The FBI has been interviewing the surviving flight instructor, Arian Prevalla, 43, who was upgraded to fair condition from critical condition Wednesday.
The family of Prevalla said they don’t have much information.
“We are all, of course, glad he survived. As of now, we have not been able to speak to him because the FBI was still questioning him.”
