Husband of U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola dies in an airplane crash in Alaska

U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola's husband hasdied in an airplane crash in western Alaska, the latest fatalityinvolving politicians or their loved ones in the nation's largeststate where flights are common because of a limited road system.

"We are devastated to share that Mary's husband, Eugene PeltolaJr. 'Buzzy' to all of us who knew and loved him passed awayearlier this morning following a plane accident in Alaska," herchief of staff, Anton McParland, said in the statement issued Wednesday morning.

Peltola, a Yup'ik who became the first Alaska Native elected to Congress last year, was returning home to be with her family, thestatement said. McParland asked that the family be allowed privacyto grieve.

The Piper PA-18-150 Super Cub appears to have crashed underunknown circumstances upon takeoff after he dropped off a hunter andequipment about 105 kilometresnortheast of St. Mary's,National Transportation Safety Board chairperson Jennifer Homendysaid during a news conference.

Alaska State Troopers identified Peltola, 57, as the pilot andplane's sole occupant in a statement. Two hunters who were at thescene but not involved in the crash provided medical care toPeltola.

The Alaska Rescue Coordination Center dispatched an Alaska AirNational Guard rescue team to the site, arriving early Wednesdaymorning, but troopers said Peltola had died before they arrived.

The rescue team returned Peltola and the two uninjured hunters toJoint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage. Peltola's body wasdelivered to the State Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy.

Homendy described the crash site area about 725kilometreswest of Anchorage as "a remote location, a mountainous area." She said interviewing the witnesses to the crash would bepart of the investigation.

It was not immediately known where the plane took off from orwhere it was headed before the crash, she said.

The Alaska Rescue Coordination Center received an emergencylocator transmitter signal at 8:48 p.m. Tuesday, 18 minutes aftersunset, Homendy said.

The closest weather observation office was in St. Mary's, so anNTSB meteorologist is investigating weather conditions closer to thecrash site.

An accident investigation team was en route Wednesday with theAlaska Air National Guard providing helicopter transportation to getinvestigators to the remote site.

Peltola received his commercial pilot's license in 2004,requiring him to use corrective lenses at all distances, according to a Federal Aviation Administration database. The plane's FAAregistry shows the Super Cub was manufactured in 1952 and BruceWerba of Holy Cross, Alaska, is the owner.

Werba and his wife, Connie, own Alaska Pike Safaris andWilderness Adventures, which offers trophy brown bear and moosehunts and pike fishing in western Alaska.

Connie Werba declined comment to The Associated Press whenreached by phone Wednesday.

'Warmth, generosity and charm'

Condolence poured in for Peltola, a former Alaska regionaldirector for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, a longtime employee ofthe U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a city council member in Betheland an Alaska Native leader.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy said he and first lady Rose Dunleavy were"deeply saddened" by the death of their former neighbour in thewestern Alaska community of Kotzebue.

"He dedicated his career to public service," Dunleavy said in astatement. "Gene always worked to ensure government worked forAlaskans."

The Bristol Bay Native Corp. extended sympathies to thecongresswoman and their family. "Eugene was a devoted husband andfather, a treasured friend, and a passionate servant both in hisyears of federal service and local leadership," it said in a statement.

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said in a post on the X platform,formerly known as Twitter, that she was beyond words to express hergrief.

"Anyone who met Buzzy felt his warmth, generosity and charm. Itwas easy to see why so many Alaskans called him a friend, and how hewas so loved by his family," she wrote.

Mary Peltola last year became the first Alaska Native in Congressby defeating former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republicanvice-presidential nominee, in ranked vote special and generalelections following the death of U.S. Rep. Don Young. The RepublicanYoung had held Alaska's sole House seat for 49 years until hisdeath.

Several prominent Alaska politicians have died in plane crashes,including former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens in 2010 and one of Peltola'spredecessors, U.S. Rep. Nick Begich, a Democrat. Begich and U.S.Rep. Hale Boggs of Louisiana, the majority leader in the U.S. House,were presumed dead after their plane went missing while flying fromAnchorage to Juneau in 1972.

State Rep. Gary Knopp died in a mid-air collision in 2020.Stevens' first wife, Ann, died in a plane crash in Anchorage in 1978.