The single-engine Piper PA-23 crashed around 8:20 p.m. PT on Sunday shortly after taking off from Canyonlands Regional Airport, according to the FAA.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating a small plane crash that killed all four occupants — North Dakota state Sen. Doug Larsen, his wife and their two children — in Moab, Utah, according to officials.
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum confirmed the deaths in a statement Monday afternoon.
„First Lady Kathryn, Lt. Gov. [Tammy] Miller and I are deeply saddened by the heartbreaking loss of Sen. Doug Larsen, his wife, Amy, and their two young sons,“ Burgum wrote.
„Sen. Larsen was a father, husband, coach, entrepreneur, businessman, state senator and lieutenant colonel in the North Dakota National Guard who committed himself fully to each of those roles with an unwavering sense of honor and duty,“ he continued. „As a legislator, he was a tenacious advocate for individual rights and the freedoms he defended through his military service.
