Alaska is a Tough Place to Fly

A crash of a small plane in Alaska may have claimed the lives of two well-known Americans, and it wouldn't be the first time the dangerous flying conditions in the 49th State have taken famous lives.  From Top of the Ticket:

Former Alaska Republican Sen. Ted Stevens and ex-NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe were with seven others aboard a small aircraft that crashed Monday night in southwest Alaska.


Recovery operations were underway by the Alaska National Guard. Initial reports said five of the nine aboard had died. The identities of the dead and survivors have not been released yet.
The rugged wilds of Alaska can be a very dangerous place to fly over in small planes, which many do. Iconic social  commentator and comedian Will Rogers died in a plane crash there in 1935, as did Louisiana Democrat Thomas Hale Boggs Sr., then the House Majority Leader.


The plane carrying Boggs, the father of longtime broadcast commentator Cokie Roberts, disappeared there in 1972 enroute from Anchorage to Juneau to a campaign fundraiser and was never found.


Boggs was declared legally dead in 1973, along with a fellow passenger Rep. Nick Begich. If that last name sounds familiar, it should. That deceased congressman was the father of Mark Begich, a Democratic former Anchorage mayor who now holds Stevens' Senate seat.


Boggs was succeeded by his wife, Lindy, and also by speculation that his death somehow involved a conspiracy over aborting the investigation into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Boggs was not a believer in the single bullet theory of the Warren Commission.


The Boggs crash lead to federal legislation mandating emergency locator beacons be installed in all civil airplanes.

There are reports of survivors in yesterday's crash, but so far no names have been released.

UPDATE:  Reuters is reporting that former Senator Ted Stevens perished in the crash.