# Fmr. Sen. Ted Stevens killed in plane crash \[edited title\]
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fmr-sen-ted-stevens-killed-in-plane-crash-edited-title/549818
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [August 10, 2010, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fmr-sen-ted-stevens-killed-in-plane-crash-edited-title/549818 "2010-08-10T13:37:43Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2010, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fmr-sen-ted-stevens-killed-in-plane-crash-edited-title/549818/1 "2010-08-10T13:37:43Z")
[A small plane has crashed near Dillingham, AK](http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2010/08/10/129102903/report-small-plane-down-in-alaska-ex-sen-stevens-possibly-on-board). Former Senator Ted Stevens (R. AK) may have been on board. Stevens was convicted of lying on financial disclosure forms about expensive gifts he received from an Alaska businessman, but the conviction was later overturned.
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### Author:  [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2010, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fmr-sen-ted-stevens-killed-in-plane-crash-edited-title/549818/2 "2010-08-10T14:07:15Z")
Updated to [presumed](http://www.sfexaminer.com/nation/Official-Stevens-believed-aboard-crashed-airplane--100342679.html) dead.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2010, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fmr-sen-ted-stevens-killed-in-plane-crash-edited-title/549818/3 "2010-08-10T14:09:40Z")
CNN just reported that Reuters confirms he was aboard the aircraft.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2010, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fmr-sen-ted-stevens-killed-in-plane-crash-edited-title/549818/4 "2010-08-10T14:25:04Z")
CNN is still trying to confirm the Reuters report. The NTSB reports that four of the nine occupants survived the crash. There are doctors on the scene.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2010, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fmr-sen-ted-stevens-killed-in-plane-crash-edited-title/549818/5 "2010-08-10T14:28:22Z")
Former NASA administrator [Sean O’Keefe](http://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/AN_Feature_Administrator.html) may also have been aboard.
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2010, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fmr-sen-ted-stevens-killed-in-plane-crash-edited-title/549818/6 "2010-08-10T14:41:55Z")
It would be one of those freaky coincidences in life, as his first wife died in a plane crash in Anchorage many years ago.
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### Author:  [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2010, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fmr-sen-ted-stevens-killed-in-plane-crash-edited-title/549818/7 "2010-08-10T15:02:57Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#):
>
> Former NASA administrator [Sean O’Keefe](http://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/AN_Feature_Administrator.html) may also have been aboard.
[CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/08/10/alaska.plane.crash/index.html?hpt=T1&iref=BN1) confirming O’Keefe was on board.
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### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2010, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fmr-sen-ted-stevens-killed-in-plane-crash-edited-title/549818/8 "2010-08-10T15:18:21Z")
BBC TV is saying there are survivors and doctors are on the scene. Says Stevens and O’Keefe were both on board.
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### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fmr-sen-ted-stevens-killed-in-plane-crash-edited-title/549818/9 "2010-08-10T15:26:38Z")
BBC TV is now saying 4 survivors out of 9 on board but still no names.
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2010, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fmr-sen-ted-stevens-killed-in-plane-crash-edited-title/549818/10 "2010-08-10T15:28:41Z")
This is one of those circular events that happens from time to time. Stevens was appointed to the Senate after Sen. Nick Begich died in a plane crash in Southeast Alaska back in 1972. Begich’s son Mark was narrowly elected over Stevens in the last election cycle after Stevens’ conviction.
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2010, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fmr-sen-ted-stevens-killed-in-plane-crash-edited-title/549818/11 "2010-08-10T15:32:56Z")
> [@Chefguy](#):
>
> This is one of those circular events that happens from time to time. Stevens was appointed to the Senate after Sen. Nick Begich died in a plane crash in Southeast Alaska back in 1972. Begich’s son Mark was narrowly elected over Stevens in the last election cycle after Stevens’ conviction.
Ah shit, morning caffeine deficit. Stevens succeeded Bob Bartlett, Don Young was appointed after the Begich crash.
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### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2010, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fmr-sen-ted-stevens-killed-in-plane-crash-edited-title/549818/12 "2010-08-10T15:36:13Z")
When we were in school in Hawaii, there were a lot of Alaskans attending the university too. One was some sort of health administrator working on his master’s who was also a pilot. I recall one time him telling about complaining to an insurance agent about the high cost of airplane insurance in Alaska. He said the agent told him it was because: “It’s not a case of _if_ you bend your bird, it’s _when_ you bend your bird.”
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### Author:  [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2010, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fmr-sen-ted-stevens-killed-in-plane-crash-edited-title/549818/13 "2010-08-10T15:37:10Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#):
>
> Updated to [presumed](http://www.sfexaminer.com/nation/Official-Stevens-believed-aboard-crashed-airplane--100342679.html) dead.
That seems quite premature. There were survivors, apparently. He might well be one of them.
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### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2010, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fmr-sen-ted-stevens-killed-in-plane-crash-edited-title/549818/14 "2010-08-10T15:38:43Z")
If an 86-year-old man can survive a plane crash, that’s one tough MoFo.
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2010, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fmr-sen-ted-stevens-killed-in-plane-crash-edited-title/549818/15 "2010-08-10T15:51:57Z")
It’s apparently a [DHC-3 Otter](http://www.dhc3otter.com/), which is a workhorse in Alaska. My bet is that they were on a fishing charter, as that area is one of the best fishing grounds in the world. We flew on one into Katmai Lake in that same vicinity. I have no idea what the handling characteristics might be.
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### Author:  [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2010, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fmr-sen-ted-stevens-killed-in-plane-crash-edited-title/549818/16 "2010-08-10T15:57:55Z")
You don’t survive 40 years in the Senate by being soft.
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2010, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fmr-sen-ted-stevens-killed-in-plane-crash-edited-title/549818/17 "2010-08-10T16:13:41Z")
Wow, I can’t believe this.
I hope he’s OK. Sad to hear about the deaths, though.
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### Author:  [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2010, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fmr-sen-ted-stevens-killed-in-plane-crash-edited-title/549818/18 "2010-08-10T16:56:56Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#):
>
> Stevens was convicted of lying on financial disclosure forms about expensive gifts he received from an Alaska businessman, but the conviction was later overturned.
And the prosecutor was charged with misconduct. I’m willing to give Sen. Stevens the benefit of the doubt and assume the charges were cooked up specifically to influence the election.
If he did die, it’s a shame.
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2010, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fmr-sen-ted-stevens-killed-in-plane-crash-edited-title/549818/19 "2010-08-10T17:04:58Z")
> [@Diceman](#):
>
> > [@Johnny\_L.A](#):
> >
> > Stevens was convicted of lying on financial disclosure forms about expensive gifts he received from an Alaska businessman, but the conviction was later overturned.
>
> And the prosecutor was charged with misconduct. I’m willing to give Sen. Stevens the benefit of the doubt and assume the charges were cooked up specifically to influence the election.
>
> If he did die, it’s a shame.
Well, no. The verdict was overturned _because_ of prosecutorial misconduct, not because Stevens was suddenly found innocent. Stevens, not the prosecution, demanded the immediate trial. Had he not done so, it’s certain that he would have been re-elected.
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### Author:  [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fmr-sen-ted-stevens-killed-in-plane-crash-edited-title/549818/20 "2010-08-10T17:11:07Z")
You know, the crash happened many hours ago, and authorities have been on the scene for quite some time. They _know_ there are four survivors. Do they really have to hold the news up for next of kin ID or have they (the families/authorities/media) put the kibosh on it? Why don’t they just name the survivors? Do they _really_ not know if Stevens was on the plane? Do they not require flight plans in Alaska or something? :dubious: I’m not being impatient; I just think that we’d have known this info already if there wasn’t something going on.
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