ABCNEWS Sen. Wellstone Killed in Crash Minnesota Democrat’s Plane Crashes; All Aboard Reported Dead
Oct. 25 — A small plane carrying U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone crashed in Minnesota today as it was approaching an airport, and all on board were reported dead.
Wellstone, a two-term Democratic senator from Minnesota, was running for re-election. The plane was chartered by his his campaign, the charter company told ABCNEWS. Sources told ABCNEWS affiliate KSTP that all eight people aboard the King Air Beech A100 were killed.
A staffer for Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy, who had been campaigning with Wellstone, said Wellstone had earlier left Kennedy giving a speech on his behalf, and departed on his plane to go to a funeral. Kennedy was not on the plane.
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.
The pilot had reported no problems before and there was no severe weather in the area at the time, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
Wellstone, 58, was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1990. He was married to Sheila Ison, and they had three grown children.