North Dakota senator, family die in plane crash

North Dakota senator, family die in plane crash

State senator Doug Larsen was piloting the plane when it crashed in a remote area in Utah.

Roses rest on the Senate desk of late North Dakota Republican state senator Doug Larsen, at the state Capitol. (AP pic)
LOS ANGELES:
Four people were killed Sunday night in a small plane crash in the US state of Utah, authorities said Monday.

The small plane crashed in a remote area shortly after taking off from the Canyonlands Regional Airport in Moab, a city in eastern Utah, according to the Grand county sheriff’s office, Xinhua reported.

“Tragically, the pilot of the plane, North Dakota state senator Doug Larsen, his wife and their two children did not survive the crash,” said the sheriff’s office in a statement posted on its Facebook page.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed in a statement that the single-engine Piper PA-28 crashed around 8.20pm local time Sunday.

North Dakota governor Doug Burgum said in a statement Monday afternoon that he was “deeply saddened by the heartbreaking loss of Senator Doug Larsen, his wife, Amy, and their two young sons”.

The FAA and the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will investigate the crash and the NTSB will be in charge of the investigation.

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