Alaska Congresswoman’s Husband Dies in Plane Crash

The husband of Rep. Mary Sattler Peltola (D., Alaska) died in a single-engine Piper PA-18 crash in Alaska, her office and U.S. agencies said Wednesday.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the plane crashed shortly after takeoff near St. Mary’s, Alaska, around 8:45 p.m. local time on Tuesday, Sept. 12. Only Peltola’s husband, who was the pilot, was on board.

Peltola’s office on Wednesday confirmed the death of Eugene Peltola Jr. Alaska has a disproportionate number of small fatal plane crashes in part because of mountainous terrain that prompts people to fly to reach remote destinations.

Former U.S. senator Ted Stevens and three others died in a 2010 plane crash in Alaska.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; editing by Chizu Nomiyama)