No. Not at all funny.
(CNN) -- This is a list of prominent politicians killed in plane crashes in recent years:
October 16, 2000: Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan (D). Carnahan, his son and an aide were killed when their small plane crashed in bad weather in Missouri. According to Reuters, Sen. Paul Wellstone's death was eerily similar to the circumstances surrounding the October 2000 plane crash death of another Democratic Senate hopeful, Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan. His plane crashed in bad weather in that state killing him shortly before that year's election. He was elected after his death and his widow was appointed to take his seat.
April 3, 1996: U.S. Commerce Secretary Ron Brown. A U.S. Air Force jetliner carrying Brown and American business executives crashed into a mountain in Croatia, killing all 35 people aboard.
April 19, 1993: South Dakota Gov. George Mickelson ®. Mickelson died along with seven others when a state-owned airplane slammed into a silo during a rainstorm in Iowa.
April 4, 1991: Pennsylvania Sen. John Heinz ®. According to AP: A fiery plane-helicopter collision 11 years ago killed U.S. Sen. H. John Heinz III and showered flames on children in a playground. Heinz, a three-term Republican and heir to the Heinz food fortune, died along with the two pilots of his chartered plane and two pilots in the helicopter who were attempting to see if the plane's front landing gear was down and locked in place. The plane's captain had radioed that an instrument light failed to confirm the gear was in place.
April 5, 1991: Texas Sen. John Tower ®. Texas Sen. John Tower, his daughter and 21 other people, including NASA astronaut Manley "Sonny" Carter, Jr., were killed in a commuter plane crash near Brunswick, Georgia.
August 13, 1989: Mississippi Rep. Larkin Smith ®. Pilot error in hazy conditions was ruled the probable cause of the plane crash that killed U.S. Rep. Larkin Smith and his pilot, according to a federal report. According to AP: The National Transportation Safety Board report indicated that pilot Chuck Vierling, who was not rated to fly on instruments, probably lost control after encountering conditions that required them. Vierling, 58, of Gulfport had expressed concern about the haziness before leaving, the report said. Vierling had flown Smith to Hattiesburg on August 13. On the return flight to Gulfport, the Cessna 152 crashed into woods near New Augusta in southeastern Mississippi.
August 7, 1989: Texas Rep. Mickey Leland (D). Rep. Mickey Leland, a Texas Democrat who chaired the House Select Committee on Hunger, killed when plane crashes during a trip to inspect relief efforts in Ethiopia.
September 1, 1983: Georgia Rep. Larry McDonald (D). McDonald was killed when Korean Air Lines Flight 007 was shot down by a Russian fighter.
August 3, 1976: Missouri Rep. Jerry Litton (D). Litton was killed along with his family in a plane crash in the northwest part of the state on the evening he won the Missouri's Democratic gubernatorial nomination. He was en route to a victory celebration.
February 14, 1975: California Rep. Jerry Pettis ®. Pettis died when his plane crashed into a mountain near Beaumont, California. His wife, Shirley N. Pettis Roberson, replaced in the House five days later. "People come up to you, with little pieces of memorabilia about your husband, and they mean to show their deep regret in losing him," Pettis Roberson said in a telephone interview from her home in California. "I had to steel myself against tears, because I thought if I cried now, I would cry forever."
October 16, 1972: House Majority Leader Hale Boggs, D-Louisiana and Rep. Nick Begich, D-Alaska: Both were killed when their plane disappeared over Alaska.
December 8, 1972: Rep. George W. Collins, Illinois (D). Collins was killed when a United Airlines jetliner plane crashed on approach to Chicago's Midway Airport. Forty-four others also were killed. Collins' widow, Cardiss, succeeded her husband in the House.
