Latest news with #Eugene Peltola Jr
The Guardian
4 days ago
- General
- The Guardian
Too much moose meat was factor in plane crash that killed Alaska lawmaker's husband
Antlers strapped to a wing and too much moose meat on board caused a small plane crash that killed the husband of then Alaska Democratic congresswoman Mary Peltola in 2023, according to a US national transportation safety board (NTSB) report that was recently released. Though the report doesn't name him, Eugene 'Buzzy' Peltola Jr was the pilot and lone person on the Piper PA-18 plane involved in the deadly wreck, which occurred near St Mary's, Alaska, on 12 September 2023, officials had previously said. Peltola Jr, 57, had taken some hunters to a remote wilderness area where they killed a moose, said the NTSB report published Tuesday. When the crash that ended his life happened, the report said, he was flying alone while carrying enough moose meat to push the plane past 'its maximum certified gross weight' by nearly 120lbs. The doomed pilot had also installed 'an unapproved external load' – in his case, antlers tied to the right wing strut – at the time the plane went down. Peltola Jr ultimately ended 'degraded takeoff performance and flight characteristics', leading to his losing control of the plane, shortly before the fatal wreck, NTSB investigators said. As the NTSB recounted, it was his second trip flying moose meat that day. Peltola and the hunters had loaded an initial batch of meat on the plane that afternoon, and he had uneventfully ferried it to a local airport. He flew back to the hunters about four hours for what was supposed to be a second and final load of moose meat. The group strapped into the rear passenger seat as well as packed it into the airplane's belly pod, 'which did not have tie-down provision', the 16-page NTSB report noted. Peltola Jr then tied moose antlers to the right wing strut, the report said, leaving them 'cupped upward and perpendicular to the direction of flight'. The report said the pilot had weighed the cargo with scales, and it turned out the plane was 117lbs – roughly 6% – over its maximum takeoff weight. Investigators wrote that the hunters watched Peltola Jr as he evidently struggled to take off and were relieved at first to see his plane become airborne, watching it vanish from view behind a ridge. But the plane did not reappear from behind the ridge and 'had crashed just beyond their view in the opposite direction of takeoff,' the NTSB report recounted. Two hunters provided first aid to Peltola Jr, who the NTSB said initially survived the crash. However, he died from his injuries within hours, according to the agency. Peltola Jr was the former Alaska regional director for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He had also spent more than three decades working for the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and he served as vice-mayor and council member for the city of Bethel, Alaska. Shortly after her husband's death, Mary Peltola's chief of staff at the time, Anton McParland, said in a media statement that Eugene was 'completely devoted' to his family. 'And he simply adored Mary,' McParland's statement said. Peltola became the first Alaska Native in Congress when she won her US House seat in a special election and then retained it in the 2022 midterm elections, twice beating the former governor and Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin. She lost her November 2024 re-election bid to Republican opponent Nick Begich III and is now the senior director of Alaska affairs at the Holland & Hart law firm.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
Alaska Congresswoman's Husband Was Killed in Freak Plane Accident Involving Moose Meat and Antlers: Investigators
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 Solve the daily Crossword
