Provided by Alaska State Troopers / AP Photo
On Tuesday, Ted Stevens, the longest-serving Republican in Senate history, died in a plane crash. The Associated Press reports on the scene of the accident that took his life. “Former Senator Ted Stevens lay dead in the mangled fuselage of the plane,” according to its report, while nearby 13-year-old William Phillips Jr. watched his father die. The four survivors, including former NASA chief Sean O’Keefe and his son, were forced to endure the Alaskan cold for hours with broken bones. Some rescuers credited their survival to the heavy-duty waders they were wearing (the passengers were embarking on a fishing trip); they helped protect them from the rain and cold as rescuers struggled against bad weather to reach the site. Of the survivors, Sean O’Keefe is the only one currently listed in critical condition. Dana Tindall, a GCI executive, and her 16-year-old son, Corey Tindall, are also among the dead.