A North Dakota state senator, his wife and the couple’s two young children were killed in a single-engine plane crash on Sunday night, officials said, New York Post reported.
The plane state senator Doug Larsen and his family were travelling in, crashed shortly after taking off from Canyonlands Airfield, about 15 miles north of tourist hotspot Moab, Utah, according to a Facebook post by the Grand County Sheriff’s Department.
They were returning home after visiting their relatives in Scottsdale, Ariz. All four passengers were killed in the crash.
North Dakota Republican Senate Majority Leader David Hogue wrote in the email to senate colleagues: “I’m not sure where the bereavement starts with such a tragedy, but I think it starts with prayers for the grandparents, surviving stepchild of Senator Larsen, and extended family of Doug and Amy. Hold your family close today.”
Larsen, a Republican, was first elected to the North Dakota Senate in 2020, where he chaired a panel that dealt with industry and business legislation. He and his wife, Amy, were both business owners. He was also a lieutenant colonel in the North Dakota National Guard, as per New York Post.
His district included Mandan, a city with a population of just under 25,000, which neighbors the state capital Bismarck to the west across the Missouri River.
The cause of the crash is still unknown and is currently being investigated, according to a post on X by the National Transportation Safety Board.
Recently, a pilot died after the plane he was flying as part of a gender reveal party in Mexico crashed, CNN reported.
Video released online shows the plane releasing pink smoke as it flies over a couple waiting in front of a sign that reads “Oh baby,” surrounded by pink and blue balloons.
The recording captures the moment the plane’s left wing appears to separate from the fuselage as it flies away from the group of people below.
Authorities in Navolato, Sinaloa state, told CNN en Español, CNN’s sister network, that the pilot died in the hospital following the crash.
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