Former state senator killed in plane crash
| Updated: 11/18/2011 3:20 pm |
Published: 11/18/2011 2:20 pm
|
STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) - Oklahoma State University officials say former state Sen. Olin Branstetter and his wife were among those killed when the plane he was flying crashed in Arkansas. Olin Branstetter was 82.
OSU President Burns Hargis says Olin and Paula Branstetter died in the crash Thursday about 45 miles west of Little Rock. The crash also killed OSU women's basketball coach Kurt Budke and assistant coach Miranda Serna.
Olin Branstetter was a one-term Republican state senator who served from 1987 to 1991. He was an avid pilot who once flew with his wife over the North Pole in their single-engine aircraft. Ponca City Airport Manager Don Nuzum says the couple frequently used their airplane to conduct "angel flights," in which they flew cancer patients from the area to hospitals around the country.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Copyright 2011 Newport Television LLC All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
