North Dakota State Senator Doug Larsen of Mandan, three members of family, killed in Utah plane crash shortly after taking off near Moab. Cause of crash not known.
A North Dakota state senator, his wife and their two young children were killed when the single engine plane that they were traveling in crashed in Utah over the weekend.
Doug Larson (Republican) and his family died Sunday evening shortly after their aircraft taking off from Canyonlands Airfield about 15 miles north of Moab, according to a Grand County Sheriff’s Department statement posted on Facebook.
The sheriff’s office said all four people on board the plane were killed. The family were returning to North Dakota after visiting family in Utah and had stopped near Moab to refuel, when tragedy struck shortly after the plane taking off.
North Dakota state senator Doug Larsen, his wife and two children are killed in Utah plane crash https://t.co/Zy2SWAxgH9
— Blue Lives Matter 💎 (@RetiredNYCPD) October 2, 2023
Tragedy after re-fueling and taking off
Deputies with the Grand County Sheriff’s Office said they received a report that the aircraft went down around 8.30pm on Sunday.
An Air Medical helicopter located the downed plane while crews from the sheriff’s office, the Moab Fire Department and EMTs responded to the crash site.
Wrote Republican Senate Majority Leader David Hogue in an email: ‘Senator Doug Larsen, his wife Amy, and their two young children died in a plane crash last evening in Utah.’
Adding, ‘They were visiting family in Scottsdale and returning home. They stopped to refuel in Utah.’
‘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,’ Hogue continued. ‘Hold your family close today.’
Cause of plane crash yet to be determined
The crash of the single-engine Piper plane was being investigated, the National Transportation Safety Board stated on social media. It remained unclear if human error or mechanical error led to the plane crash.
A stepchild of Larson’s was not on the plane, Hogue said. Larson has served in the Senate since 2021.
Larsen was a Republican first elected to the North Dakota Senate in 2020. His district comprises Mandan, the city neighboring Bismarck to the west across the Missouri River. Larsen chaired a Senate panel that handled industry and business legislation.
He was also a lieutenant colonel in the North Dakota National Guard. He and his wife, Amy, were business owners.
Moab is a tourism-centered community of about 5,300 people near Arches and Canyonlands national parks.
