(VitalNews.org) – Republican Senator Doug Larsen, along with his wife Amy and two small children, were killed in a plane crash on Sunday September 30. The Piper plane, a small single-engine aircraft, crashed in Utah as the family returned from visiting family in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The Grand County sheriff’s office confirmed that they received a report of a small plane having crashed to the ground at around 8.30pm that evening. Once the site of the crash had been located by an Air Medical helicopter, a rescue attempt was coordinated between the sheriff’s office, the Moab fire department, and EMT’s.
Senator Larsen was elected to the North Dakota senate in 2020. He was a self-described conservative as well as a businessman, who along with his wife, had a majority ownership of a local hotel. He was a lieutenant colonel in the North Dakota National Guard and acted as chair for a Senate Panel that oversaw legislation relating to industry and business. Local Republicans have confirmed that they will appoint a successor to carry out his duties until the end of his original term, in November 2024.
The National Transportation Safety Board released a statement on social media about the crash, saying that it would be fully investigated. Thus far, few details have been confirmed to the public. Amy Larsen was a qualified pilot who was known to have flown her first flight in December 2020, but it has not yet been confirmed whether she was piloting the aircraft at the time of the crash. The cause, or causes, of the crash are as yet unknown, although the investigation began in earnest on Monday, October 2. The NTSB explained that many steps would have to be taken in order to determine the circumstances of the fatal crash, including a detailed examination of the plane and site as well as studying weather reports and any air traffic communications.
David Hogue, the Republican Senate Majority Leader, informed his colleagues of the tragic deaths of the family via an email. He said that it was hard to know where to begin when dealing with such a tragedy but asked them to pray for the family of the deceased.
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