Sean O'Keefe Recounts Surviving Alaskan Crash
Updated: 1 day 11 hours ago
(Oct. 22) -- Sean O'Keefe had no idea what had just happened. One minute he and his companions had been in the air, flying to a remote fishing camp in southwest Alaska. The next minute he sat bewildered, "spitting out shards of teeth."
His first thought was for his 19-year-old son, Kevin. He had been sitting in the front of the 1957 DeHavilland float plane, next to the pilot. He called his boy's name, but got no response. "It was just surreal," the former NASA chief and Navy secretary told the "Today" show this morning.
Next to him, former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens was dead. So were four others, all longtime friends and associates of Stevens, the longest-serving Republican senator in U.S. history. O'Keefe and his son were among four survivors of the small plane that slammed into a mountain during rain and fog on Aug. 9, en route from a lodge to a nearby camp for salmon fishing.
"The degree of separation between survival and not was a fraction of what you'd imagine," said O'Keefe, who still wears a brace for his fractured neck and a leg guard for his severely broken ankle. He also suffered a dislocated hip and broken ribs.
"It could have been anybody. The randomness of this whole experience was such that any doubt you have about divine intervention goes away," said O'Keefe, 54, who returned to work this week at the Washington office of a European aerospace firm.
His group had been in the air for about 15 minutes before boring into the rugged mountainside. He reached over to Stevens, his lifelong friend, and felt for a pulse. He found none. Pinned to his seat, O'Keefe scanned the wreckage looking for his son.
Kevin O'Keefe was suspended from the ceiling, still strapped into his harness. The only survivor who could move was 13-year-old Willy Phillips. His father, William D. Phillips Sr., a former chief of staff for Stevens and a Washington lawyer, was among the dead on board.
Because of bad weather, rescuers weren't able to get them out until the next morning. For a while, O'Keefe said, the survivors worried they had outlived the crash only to die of exposure. Eventually, they heard helicopters, but couldn't see them through the fog.
Not a day goes by, O'Keefe said, when he doesn't marvel at his and his son's survival. Kevin O'Keefe, who suffered a dislocated hip and a broken jaw, is fully healed and has begun his freshman year at Syracuse University.
"The randomness of this is just so unbelievable," O'Keefe told "Today." "Sen. Stevens was sitting right next to me. I'll continue to wonder to my last breath."
Sean O'Keefe Wonders at 'Randomness' of Surviving Alaskan Crash
His first thought was for his 19-year-old son, Kevin. He had been sitting in the front of the 1957 DeHavilland float plane, next to the pilot. He called his boy's name, but got no response. "It was just surreal," the former NASA chief and Navy secretary told the "Today" show this morning.
Next to him, former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens was dead. So were four others, all longtime friends and associates of Stevens, the longest-serving Republican senator in U.S. history. O'Keefe and his son were among four survivors of the small plane that slammed into a mountain during rain and fog on Aug. 9, en route from a lodge to a nearby camp for salmon fishing.
"The degree of separation between survival and not was a fraction of what you'd imagine," said O'Keefe, who still wears a brace for his fractured neck and a leg guard for his severely broken ankle. He also suffered a dislocated hip and broken ribs.
"It could have been anybody. The randomness of this whole experience was such that any doubt you have about divine intervention goes away," said O'Keefe, 54, who returned to work this week at the Washington office of a European aerospace firm.
His group had been in the air for about 15 minutes before boring into the rugged mountainside. He reached over to Stevens, his lifelong friend, and felt for a pulse. He found none. Pinned to his seat, O'Keefe scanned the wreckage looking for his son.
Kevin O'Keefe was suspended from the ceiling, still strapped into his harness. The only survivor who could move was 13-year-old Willy Phillips. His father, William D. Phillips Sr., a former chief of staff for Stevens and a Washington lawyer, was among the dead on board.
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Still, the boy went outside in the foggy rain and tried to signal for rescue planes. "He matured in an instant," O'Keefe said, praising the young teen's bravery. "He was the only one of the four of us who was mobile. He went outside and was able to look for some kind of communications."Because of bad weather, rescuers weren't able to get them out until the next morning. For a while, O'Keefe said, the survivors worried they had outlived the crash only to die of exposure. Eventually, they heard helicopters, but couldn't see them through the fog.
Not a day goes by, O'Keefe said, when he doesn't marvel at his and his son's survival. Kevin O'Keefe, who suffered a dislocated hip and a broken jaw, is fully healed and has begun his freshman year at Syracuse University.
"The randomness of this is just so unbelievable," O'Keefe told "Today." "Sen. Stevens was sitting right next to me. I'll continue to wonder to my last breath."
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