Alaska Congresswoman's Husband Was Killed in Freak Plane Accident Involving Moose Meat and Antlers: Investigators

Yahoo

4 days ago

Mary Peltola has filed a negligence suit against the plane's owner after her husband, Eugene, died on a hunting trip while she was working in Washington, D.C.
The cause of the plane crash that killed an Alaska congresswoman's husband has been revealed by investigators nearly two years after the tragedy.
Eugene Peltola Jr., the husband of history-making Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola, was flying a small plane in St. Mary's, Alaska, in September 2023 that crashed shortly after takeoff, resulting in his death at the age of 57.
On Tuesday, July 22, federal investigators shared their findings on the fatal incident, concluding that the plane ultimately crashed due to its weight distribution and heavy winds, The Associated Press reported.
A final report released by the National Transportation Safety Board estimated the Piper PA-18-150 Super Cub plane — which Eugene was flying alone — was more than 117 pounds overweight, per Alaska News Source, due to large amounts of moose meat cargo he was transporting.
A set of moose antlers were mounted outside on the plane's right wing, which also caused a drag when the plane was set in motion.
The heavy weight plus a drag and imbalance on the right wing, coupled with windy conditions "would have likely resulted in the airplane having insufficient power and/or control authority to maneuver above terrain," the report read, per AP.
Clint Johnson, NTSB's Alaska region chief, told Alaska News Source the crash was the result of "a perfect storm of contributing factors" — if any single aspect of the crash was not present, the flight probably could have landed safely, he said.
In the days leading up to the crash, Eugene took a group of hunters to an airstrip at St. Mary's, the report stated. The group had felled a moose the day before the crash, and arranged for Eugene to transport the meat via the plane.
Prior to the crash, the congresswoman's husband had already transported one load of meat and returned for another, but did not use scales to precisely measure the weight of his cargo.
Two hunters administered care for Eugene after the plane crashed, but the pilot died within two hours, NTSB previously determined.
News of the plane crash's cause comes as Eugene's wife, Mary, files a civil suit against the plane's owner for alleged negligence, per Alaska News Source.
The former Alaska representative, 51, alleged the owner — who was Eugene's employer — and the two companies he ran caused her husband to fly excessive hours, under dangerous conditions and without proper rest. She also alleges that the owner instructed Eugene to carry cargo externally without a permit.
The suit, filed July 18, is seeking at least $100,000 in damages, the outlet reported.
Mary served in the House of Representatives from September 2022 to January 2025 after a prior career in local, state and tribal politics.
She ran in the 2022 special election for Alaska's only House seat to test whether the state's new ranked-choice voting system could give Democrats a stronger chance at getting elected.
Though the seat had been occupied by Republicans for 50 years, Mary eked ahead of former Republican Gov. Sarah Palin and GOP businessman Nick Begich III to flip the House seat blue and become the first-ever Alaska Native elected to Congress.
In the 2024 elections, though, Begich — a member of Alaska's powerful Begich political family — rematched with Mary and narrowly unseated her, cutting her congressional career short.
Read the original article on People
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