BREAKING: North Dakota senator Doug Larsen and his wife and two kids die in plane crash

[Ohio Joe]

North Dakota senator Doug Larsen, as well as his wife and two kids, have died in a plane crash.

The small plane they were travelling in crashed in Utah, a Senate leader said Monday. Doug Larsen's death was confirmed in an email that Republican Senate Majority Leader David Hogue sent to his fellow senators.

The plane crashed Sunday evening shortly after taking off from Canyonlands Airfield about 15 miles (24 kilometers) north of Moab, according to a Grand County Sheriff's Department statement posted on Facebook. The sheriff's office said all four people on board the plane were killed.

"Senator Doug Larsen, his wife Amy, and their two young children died in a plane crash last evening in Utah," Hogue wrote in his email. "They were visiting family in Scottsdale and returning home. They stopped to refuel in Utah."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/breaking-north-dakota-senator-doug-larsen-and-his-wife-and-two-kids-die-in-plane-crash/ar-AA1hAn2i?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=3405fad4b6674dfb865b4aad60254a0b&ei=142

Don't really know anything about him. RIP

[underpants]

1. How tragic. ☹️

Russ Francis, the former Tight End for New England, died in a plane crash this morning.

[LiberalFighter]

2. Didn't see any reports as to the time.

[Ocelot II]

3. That's sad.

High field elevation, hot weather? NTSB will figure it out.

[WhiteTara]

6. that was my thought

heat and elevation. I always hated flying into Phoenix.

[IcyPeas]

4. Omg. That is devastating...

His Wikipedia entry says he has 3 children.

Also the wiki has this:

Larsen served in the North Dakota Army National Guard for 28 years as a lieutenant colonel. He was the commander of the 112th Aviation Battalion

[hlthe2b]

5. Small planes... I have flown in them quite a bit across CO, WY, MT... Never without white knuckles

Sad, very sad.

[ProfessorGAC]

9. Only Once For Me

I felt myself tuned into every variation in engine noise & on alert for every little bump.
Turns out, it was only about a 180 mile trip. Took nearly 90 minutes.
We drove back in a rental car. Took us 3 hours.
The extra 90 minutes was worth it.
I know all the stats, but I was still less stressed in the car.

[Deep State Witch]

7. OMG!

This is awful! RIP.

[Elessar Zappa]

8. Sad.

I have a fear of flying even though I know the chances of dying in a plane wreck are exceedingly small. But RIP to this guy and his family.

[Srkdqltr]

10. So sad.

[LonePirate]

11. He was a State Senator and not one of the two US Senators from ND.

This would be unlikely to make national news as such.

[House of Roberts]

12. I just looked that up.

I don't even recall ever hearing the names of the two US Senators from ND.

[Effete Snob]

15. Yeah, I had to look that up too

Would be nice of the OP to make that clear in the subject line for those of us who do not have the US Senate memorized.

[LonePirate]

19. The OP just copied the headline from the news article so that's the culprit.

[chowder66]

13. Very sad news.

[Sogo]

14. I used to work for a businessman who flew himself

all over the US in his small plane for his appointments.

He was fanatical about the expertise of who did the maintenance on his plane and the quality of the parts, because, he said, those are the two things that will most likely cause a small plane to crash.

[Kaleva]

18. Something minor at ground level could be severe up in the air

[Wednesdays]

20. Indeed.

If your car's engine dies, you just pull to the side of the road. If your plane's engine dies, you're in deep shit uniess you really know how to glide to a safe landing.

[Xavier Breath]

22. Your mentioning of gliding a plane reminded me

of an episode of Airline Disasters about such an incident, namely, an Air Canada commercial flight about 40 years ago. Here's the Wikipedia entry:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider

It's fascinating, and damned impressive, that they glided from 41,000 feet to a safe landing with zero casualties.

[StoolPigeon]

24. Don't forget Sully

He glided an Airbus down from over 2800 feet, saving the lives of everyone aboard as well as those on the ground who didn't have an airplane land on top of them.

[Xavier Breath]

25. Of course.

And portrayed on the silver screen by our generation's Jimmy Stewart, no less.

[MissB]

23. Yep

One of my siblings has a small Cessna. They are also a former Navy pilot. And the pilot of a private jet owned by a well known Hollywood person. My sibling is absolutely fanatical too.

When the jet is being serviced annually, they’re on site to watch every moment.

[Hekate]

16. How absolutely horrible. Condolences to their family, & may they cross gently

[In It to Win It]

17. Wow! Condolences to their families

[Maru Kitteh]

21. How absolutely awful.

May their families be comforted, and find peace.

[2naSalit]

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