Republican North Dakota state Sen. Doug Larsen and his family were killed in a plane crash in Utah on Sunday night, according to an email sent by Republican Senate Majority Leader David Hogue obtained by the Associated Press.
“Senator Doug Larsen, his wife Amy, and their two young children died in a plane crash last evening in Utah,” Hogue wrote, according to the AP. “They were visiting family in Scottsdale and returning home. They stopped to refuel in Utah.”
The Grand County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that four people died in the Moab crash, but did not confirm their identities.(RELATED: Former Super Bowl Champion Dies In Plane Crash)
The Sheriff’s Office posted a statement to Facebook on Sunday apparently confirming the crash.
Doug Larsen, a Republican state senator from North Dakota, was killed alongside his wife and their two children when the plane they were traveling in crashed in Utah Sunday evening, according to an email obtained by the AP. https://t.co/KEw8KIvAM5
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) October 2, 2023
“At approximately 8:30 p.m. the Grand County Sheriff’s Office received information from a reporting party of a plane going into the ground shortly after taking off from the Canyonlands Airfield north of Moab,” they said in a statement. “Grand County Sheriff’s Deputies, Moab Fire Department personnel and Emergency Medical technicians responded. Classical Air Medical located the downed aircraft and an assessment of patients is currently underway. Further information will be presented as soon as possible,” the statement concludes.
The National Transportation Safety Bureau is investigating the crash. “NTSB investigating the Oct. 1 crash of Piper PA-28-140 airplane near Moab, Utah,” they said on Twitter.
NTSB investigating the Oct. 1 crash of Piper PA-28-140 airplane near Moab, Utah.
— NTSB Newsroom (@NTSB_Newsroom) October 2, 2023
The Grand County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.