Iowa History Daily: April 19 - SD Governor Dies in Iowa Crash

Iowa History Daily: On April 19, 1993, a plane carrying South Dakota Governor George Mickelson and seven others crashed into an Iowa silo near Dubuque. All aboard died in the accident. 

Mickelson, a second-term governor initially elected to South Dakota’s highest office in 1986, found himself aboard the plane after flying east to Ohio on a mission to save the Sioux Falls John Morrell and Company meatpacking plant. Two pilots, as well as a host of other officials representing Sioux Falls, South Dakota Economic Development, banking interests, and Northern States Power also died in the crash. 

The Mitsubishi MU-2 plane crashed into a 65’ grain silo on the Ambrosy farm just south of Zwingle after developing engine trouble around 3:25 p.m. The plane attempted to make an emergency landing at the Dubuque airport, but came up twelve miles short.

In the aftermath, crash investigators cited a failed propeller hub for the crash. Roughly a month after the disaster a mushroom hunter in Thomson, Illinois, found the propeller and engine cover. Mickelson was the first South Dakota governor to die while in office. 

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