Official: Pilot, trainee had altercation before plane crash

A U.S. official familiar with the investigation says a Connecticut plane crash that killed a student pilot and left his flight instructor with serious burns appears to have been a suicide attempt.

The official was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday on condition of anonymity.

Flight instructor Arian Prevalla was badly burned, but survived the crash in East Hartford on Tuesday. Student pilot Feras Freitekh was killed.

The official says the men had an altercation inside the cockpit of the small plane and the instructor was unable to regain control from the trainee before it crashed near the Connecticut headquarters of a military jet engine manufacturer.

According to the official, the instructor described the student as disgruntled about learning to be a pilot.