Sen. Ted Stevens' death in a small plane that crashed in a remote part of Alaska adds another sad chapter to the story of politicians who have died in airplane accidents over the past several decades.
Stevens had already survived another plane crash in the state 1978 while his wife, Ann, died.
The frequency of their travel, trips to often remote areas and the use of small, private planes make politicians much more likely victims of plane crashes. Here are others whose fatal crashes made headlines over the past few decades:-
• In 1972, a plane carrying then-House Majority Leader Thomas Hale Boggs, Sr., father of broadcast commentator Cokie Roberts, crashed on its way to Juneau and was never found. Also on the flight and declared dead was Rep. Nick Begich, father of Alaska Sen. Mark Begich.-
• Sen. John Heinz (R-Pa.) and six others died in 1991, when Heinz's chartered plane collided with a helicopter inspecting its landing gear in the Philadelphia area.
• Longtime Texas Sen. John Tower died in the crash of a commuter plane in April 1991 in Georgia.
• George Speaker Mickelson, the Republican governor of South Dakota from 1987-1993, died in a 1993 plane crash near Dubuque, Iowa.-
• Ron Brown, Commerce Secretary under former President Bill Clinton, was killed in a 1996 plane crash in Croatia. The crash and Brown's death sparked a controversy over government conspiracy and cover-up.-
• John F. Kennedy, Jr., son of former President John F. Kennedy, died along with his wife and sister-in-law when their plane crashed into the Atlantic in 1999.-
• In October 2000, two-term Democratic Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan was killed in a plane crash over the Missouri border. Carnahan, who was running for U.S. Senate at the time of the crash, was elected posthumously and his widow, Jean Carnahan, served in his place.-
• Minnesota Sen. Paul Wellstone died in 2002, when his plane crashed just 11 days before the election in which he was running for a third Senate term. His wife and daughter also died in the crash.
