Haris Suleman

Haris Suleman (October 3, 1996 – July 23, 2014) was a Pakistani-American pilot attempting to fly around the world in 30 days to promote education when his plane crashed in the Pacific Ocean, killing him and leaving his father Babar Suleman (December 27, 1958 – July 23, 2014), also on board, missing.[1]

Haris Suleman was a student at Plainfield High School in Plainfield, Indiana.[2] The father-son duo were raising money for a charity organisation based in Pakistan, The Citizens Foundation, which educates Pakistan's poorest children. They departed Indiana on 19 June 2014 and were attempting to fly around the world in 30 days – a 26,500-mile (42,673-km) journey with 25 stops in 15 countries – and hoped to break the world record for the youngest pilot-in-command in history to circumnavigate the earth in a single-engine plane in 30 days.[2][3][4][5] They were on the final leg of their trip, flying from Pago Pago in American Samoa to Hawaii via Kiribati in their Hawker Beechcraft Bonanza A36 – (registration N20TC[6]) also planning a stop in California before returning to Indiana – when their plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean on 23 July 2014 shortly after taking off from Pago Pago International Airport.[2][7]

If Haris and Babar had completed the trip, Haris would have set the record for the fastest circumnavigation of the world in a single-engine plane, and he would have become the youngest pilot to lead such a journey.[8]

On August 20, 2014, the government of Pakistan posthumously conferred the Sitara-e-Imtiaz award by President Mamnoon Hussain to Haris Suleman as a recipient of the third-highest civil award in Pakistan.[9]

Haris Suleman is buried at Maple Hill Cemetery in Plainfield, Indiana.