My first successful post - I think. Curious - the sound of the names involved. Maybe I'm just a bit paranoid.

Good post. Something to make you say "Hmmmm".

/john

Pilot:

He had recently obtained a pilots license...

Passenger:

student from the United Arab Emirates.

This does sound familiar,hmmmm.

Oops. I forgot - the name of the second individual killed was found in this article......

NTSB Investigating Wentzville Plane Crash

11/16/2001 5:00:04 PM

WENTZVILLE (KSDK) -- The NTSB is trying to determine what caused a fatal plane crash in Wentzville. The Cessna went down around 6:30 last night, near the GM plant north of Interstate 70.

Two people were killed in the crash, including the pilot, 52-year-old mark Ghafoori of Wentzville.

The passenger has been identified as 24-year old Abdullah Aldhaheri of St. Charles, Missouri. The plane took off from the airport in Creve Coeur.

Ghafoori is survived by his wife and two teenage sons.

The family says a trust fund is being set up for the children.

this is like that science fiction movie with the pods that control people's brains. Middle aged men who have a nice life here suddenly decide to aim planes at GM plants.

Ghafoori is an Iranian name, not an Arab one. He owns a business, not a fruit stand or taxi cab. You are getting paranoid.

Here's a follow up aticle.....

Small plane that crashed may have been trying to signal an emergency

By Susan Weich

Of The Post-Dispatch

* Police say the plane's passenger was a student from the United Arab Emirates. Both he and the pilot were killed.

While investigators declined to comment Friday on the cause of a light plane crash that killed two men in Wentzville, federal accident records state that the last radio contact made by the plane was a "possible mayday" call.

The single-engine aircraft had taken off from Creve Coeur Airport on Thursday night, but it is unclear where the plane was headed, said Bob Cameron, manager of the airport. Cameron said the pilot had not filed a flight plan but stressed that this was not unusual, especially in good weather.

National Transportation Safety Board officials said the investigation could take six months to a year.

Meanwhile, authorities identified the second man killed in the crash, near the Wentzville GM plant, as Abdulla Belal Abdul Aldhaheri, 24, a student from the United Arab Emirates. The pilot, Mark M. Ghafoori, 52, of Wentzville, also was killed. Ghafoori had received his pilots license about three months ago, according to family members.

Police said that Aldhaheri was a family friend of Ghafoori and worked at Ghafoori's business, Quality Mortgage Services Inc., in Hazelwood. Police could not confirm where Aldhaheri attended school. Aldhaheri had lived in St. Charles, but police did not have a current address for him.

The private plane, made by Zenair, went down about 6:30 p.m. in a wooded area a mile north of Interstate 70, just west of Highway A. Aircraft registration records list the owner as Harry Pujji, who runs a flight school called Creve Coeur Aviation. Pujji could not be reached for comment.

Ghafoori's son, Martin, said his father had decided to take flying lessons after his family bought him a certificate for a plane ride for his 50th birthday.

Ghafoori and his family had lived in the St. Charles County area for more than 25 years, most of those in St. Peters. Martin Ghafoori said his father had owned Quality Mortgage for 15 years and also owned Triple A Mortgage.

Pretty sure I heard them saying on the news (shortly after the crash) that the crash was a bit odd in that it wasn't clear where they were going and that they were flying near a small closed down airport in the area, but that it did not appear as though they were trying to land there.

This may be just a plane crash and nothing more, but I still think it's news.

"It started banking to the west, and then it just dove down to the ground. I was shocked,"

I wonder if there was something that made them think there was a nuclear plant in that location.