Celebrity Deathwatch: Mel Carnahan, Missouri Governor, 66

["Deathwatch Central" <cdw@slick.org>]

http://www.cnn.com/2000/US/10/17/carnahan.plane.05/index.html

Missouri Gov. Carnahan killed in air crash before Senate campaign stop

October 17, 2000
Web posted at: 5:47 a.m. EDT (0947 GMT)

HILLSBORO, Missouri (CNN) -- Missouri governor and U.S. Senate candidate Mel
Carnahan, his son and a top adviser were killed last night in the fiery
crash of a private plane about 30 miles south of St. Louis.

Lt. Gov. Roger Wilson was named acting governor early today as efforts
continued to officially identify the crash victims -- believed to be the
governor, his son Roger "Randy" Carnahan, who piloted the plane, and
longtime aide Chris Sifford.

"I hope that everyone in Missouri will put the Carnahan family and Sifford
family in their prayers tonight," Wilson told reporters in an emotional
statement.

"I'd give anything if the confirmation (of Carnahan's death) did not occur,"
he added.

Carnahan's press secretary, Jerry Nachtigal, his voice choking with emotion,
expressed "great sadness" and said Carnahan "always believed that public
service was a noble calling. He was the greatest governor this state has
ever had."

Difficult conditions hampered more than 100 emergency workers who combed the
scattered wreckage of the light aircraft that went down in rain and fog in a
densely wooded area about 7:30 p.m. Monday. Members of the governor's
security staff were also at the scene.

Carnahan, 66, a Democrat who had been governor of Missouri for eight years,
was running for the Senate and was locked in a tight race with incumbent
Republican Sen. John Ashcroft.

CNN political analyst Bill Schneider said the race had been expected to be
close, and was regarded as one of the Democratic Party's best chances to
pick up a seat in the Republican-dominated Senate.

U.S. President Bill Clinton, in Egypt for the second day of a Middle East
peace summit, contacted Carnahan's wife, Jean, after hearing the news,
Clinton aides said.

Vice President Al Gore, in St. Louis for today's scheduled third and final
presidential debate, also telephoned the governor's wife.

Plane en route to campaign stop
The governor and the other two men were aboard a twin-engine Cessna that had
been headed for a campaign stop in New Madrid, in southeastern Missouri.

Kansas City Flight Service said the governor's plane took off at 7:06 p.m.
from St. Louis Downtown-Parks Airport -- a small airport across the
Mississippi River in Illinois -- for New Madrid, where the governor was due
to attend a fundraiser, St. Louis television station KMOV reported.

At 11 p.m., the governor's office summoned Wilson and State Treasurer Bob
Holden to return immediately to the Statehouse in Jefferson City for an
emergency, the St. Louis Post- Dispatch reported.

Wilson, 51, will serve out the remainder of the governor's term. Holden, a
Democrat, is facing Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Talent in the November election
for governor.

Governor and son licensed pilots
Both Carnahan and his son were licensed pilots. Randy Carnahan normally flew
the campaign plane for political events, The Associated Press reported.

Lambert-St. Louis International Airport in St. Louis was tracking the
governor's plane, which disappeared from radar at 7:33 p.m.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol said a plane crashed about 25 miles south
of St. Louis in a hilly, wooded area near the towns of Goldman and Barnhart.

Capt. Ed Kemp of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department said wreckage
from the accident had been found, "but it's in very small pieces because
it's a heavily wooded and rocky terrain and it's spread over a large area."

Remains found
Jefferson County Sheriff Glenn Boyer said remains had been found, but had
not been identified.

Asked if the plane belonged to the governor, Boyer said, "It's a
possibility, but I most certainly couldn't confirm it." He said a tail
number could not be distinguished to positively identify the aircraft.

Jefferson County resident Tom Hunter heard the crash.

"I thought, 'What a crazy person in this kind of weather.' Next thing,
sounded like it was in a very steep dive, the engine was just screaming."

Hunter said he heard a loud explosion and the sky turned red. "That was it.
It was total silence. I told my wife to call 911."

Crash recalls earlier tragedy
Monday's crash was eerily reminiscent of a 1976 tragedy that claimed the
life of Missouri Congressman Jerry Litton.

Litton was running for the U.S. Senate seat of retiring Democratic incumbent
Stuart Symington. Litton won the primary on August 3, 1976. That evening,
Litton, his wife and children were killed when their plane crashed en route
to a victory celebration in Kansas City.

Carnahan won his first public election at age 26 as a municipal judge in his
hometown of Rolla. He was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives
two years later and served two terms, and later served as state treasurer.

In 1988, Carnahan was elected lieutenant governor. In 1992, he won the
governor's office in a landslide. He won a second term in 1996.

CNN Correspondent Jonathan Karl, the Associated Press and Reuters
contributed to this report.

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