(DailyDig.com) – On October 2, a small aircraft carrying a state senator from North Dakota, his wife, and the couple’s young children wrecked in Utah, killing all four on board.
The plane went down soon after lifting off from the Canyonlands Airfield, which is located approximately fifteen miles to the north of Moab, according to the Sheriff’s Department of Grand County. The NTSB has said that they are now looking into the crash of a Piper PA-23.
David Hogue, (R) Senate Majority Leader, informed his colleagues that Senator Doug Larsen and his family were killed in an aircraft accident in Utah. After visiting relatives in Scottsdale, they made a pit stop in Utah for gas on the way back home.
After a medical flight noticed the wreckage, firefighters, police, and paramedics from Moab County rushed to the scene.
A spokesperson for the NTSB stated that an investigator from the board was scheduled to be on the site on Monday to begin gathering evidence, interviewing potential witnesses, checking weather reports, examining the air traffic transmissions, and documenting the situation. The investigator will also need the pilot’s medical documents, flight logs, and aircraft maintenance logs.
Not much is known about the disaster itself or who the pilot was, although in 2020 Larsen claimed that his wife Amy had made “her first flight as a pilot.” According to FAA data, the aircraft went down shortly after departure from Moab, Utah.
In 2020, Republican Larsen was elected for the first time to serve in the North Dakota state Senate. Mandan, the city west of Bismarck, is included in his district. He presided over a Senate committee responsible for commercial and industrial laws. He also served in the National Guard of North Dakota with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He had a successful company with his wife.
Larsen’s Senate seat will be up for election next year, so district Republicans will pick a replacement to serve out the balance of his term, which ends in November 2024. Republican majorities are in control of both the North Dakota Senate and House.
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