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Investigators Probe Cause of Alaska Plane Crash

   VOA News 11 August 2010
   This  image  provided by the Alaska State Police shows the wreckage of
   the  amphibious  plane carrying former Sen. Ted Stevens, which crashed
   into  a remote mountainside during a fishing trip, killing Stevens and
   four others, 10 Aug 2010

Photo: AP

   This  image  provided by the Alaska State Police shows the wreckage of
   the  amphibious  plane carrying former Sen. Ted Stevens, which crashed
   into  a remote mountainside during a fishing trip, killing Stevens and
   four  others,  and stranding the survivors on a rocky slope overnight,
   10 Aug 2010

   Investigators are expected in the U.S. state of Alaska at the scene of
   a  plane  crash  that  killed  the  longest-serving Republican to hold
   office in the U.S. Senate.
   Former  U.S.  Senator  Ted Stevens was among five victims of the crash
   late  Monday  of  a  small  plane  ( DeHavilland DHC-3T) near a remote
   Alaskan fishing village.  Among the four survivors is Sean O'Keefe, a
   former  administrator of the U.S. space agency, NASA.  He is reported
   to be in critical condition at an Anchorage, Alaska, hospital.
   Officials say the single-engine propeller aircraft went down about 525
   kilometers  southwest of the city of Anchorage.  They also say rescue
   crews  did  not  reach  the  crash  site until dawn Tuesday because of
   severe weather conditions in the area.
   The  cause  of  the crash is not known, but flights in the mountainous
   region  can be perilous.  Air travel is more common in Alaska than in
   most  U.S.  states because it has large expanses of wilderness and few
   roads outside major cities.
   President Barack Obama issued a statement Tuesday praising Stevens and
   extending condolences to the late senator's family and the families of
   those  who  were  killed  along  with  him  in  the accident. Flags in
   Washington,  D.C.,  are  flying  at  half-staff  Wednesday in Stevens'
   honor.
   The 86-year-old Stevens spent 40 years representing Alaska in the U.S.
   Senate.  He was defeated in 2008 following his conviction for failing
   to  report  corporate  gifts.   The  conviction  was later overturned
   because of misconduct by federal prosecutors.
   In  1978,  Stevens  was  a  passenger in a plane crash at an Anchorage
   airport that killed his first wife, Ann.
   This  is  the third plane crash in Alaska in less than two weeks.  On
   July  29,  a  military  plane went down near Elmendorf Air Force Base,
   killing four people.  Just three days later, a cargo plane crashed in
   Alaska's  Denali  National Park, killing all three people on board and
   sparking a forest fire.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP.

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