Sen. Wellstone Killed in Plane Crash
Oct. 25 -- U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone, one of the most prominent liberals in Congress, was killed along with seven other people, including his wife and daughter, when their small plane crashed today in Minnesota.
All eight people aboard the Beech King-Air A100 were killed.
"The senator has logged tens of hundreds of miles on this plane. … It's just the unthinkable happened," said a visibly shocked Jeff Blodgett, a spokesman for the Minnesota Democrat's campaign.
The plane had been carrying Wellstone, 58, his wife Sheila and their daughter Marcia. Also aboard were campaign staff members Will McLaughlin, Tom Lapic and Mary McEvoy, and two pilots, whose names were not immediately released.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known, but sources told ABCNEWS that during the preflight weather briefing, the pilots were told they they would have "adverse icing conditions throughout the flight."
‘It’s Just Terrible’
The turboprop commuter plane was traveling from St. Paul to Eveleth, Minn., when it crashed about seven miles east of the Eveleth airport in northern Minnesota around 10:20 a.m. Central Time.
Wellstone, a two-term senator who was running for re-election, had left a campaign event and was on his way to attend the funeral of Frank Rukavina, the father of a Democratic state representative, when the plane went down. The aircraft had been chartered from Executive Aviation.
One pilot who flew over said wreckage said it was widely scattered and charred in a wooded, swampy area.
"It's just terrible," said Lisa Pattni, a Wellstone campaign aide who traveled to the crash site. "Say a prayer."
The Wellstone crash was eerily reminiscent of a fatal crash in 2000 that claimed the life of Mel Carnahan, the Democratic nominee for a Senate seat from Missouri.
Carnahan, who was Missouri governor at the time, and two others — including his son, who was piloting the plane — died when their Cessna 335 crashed in rain and fog on Oct. 16, 2000.
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