Rep. Mary Peltola's husband has died in a plane crash in Alaska

• Rep. Mary Peltola's husband died in a plane accident early on Wednesday. 
• She is returning home to Alaska to be with their family, according to a statement from her team. 
• The statement said that he was "completely devoted" to his family and that he "simply adored Mary."

Rep. Mary Peltola of Alaska announced Wednesday that her husband died in a plane crash in Alaska. 

"We are devastated to share that Mary's husband, Eugene Peltola Jr. — 'Buzzy' to all of us who knew and loved him — passed away earlier this morning following a plane accident in Alaska," a statement posted to Peltola's Twitter account said. 

Peltola is returning to Alaska to be with her family, the statement said. 

"He was one of those people that was obnoxiously good at everything," the statement continued, adding: "He had a delightful sense of humor that lightened the darkest moments." 

The statement said that he was "completely devoted" to his entire family and that he "simply adored Mary." 

Eugene Peltola was a former regional director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs for Alaska, and previously worked for the US Fish and Wildlife Service in the state.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski on Wednesday expressed her condolences over the news of Eugene Peltola Jr's passing.

"I am shocked, saddened and truly beyond words to express my grief at the loss of Gene Peltola Jr.," the Republican lawmaker wrote. "Anyone who met Buzzy felt his warmth, generosity and charm. It was easy to see why so many Alaskans called him a friend, and how he was so loved by his family."

Last year, Peltola won a special election for Alaska's at-large congressional seat, becoming the first Alaska Native elected to Congress and the first Democrat to hold the seat in nearly 50 years. She later won the November general election.

Air travel in Alaska is notoriously perilous, with terrain and infrastructural issues that have challenged pilots for generations. In 1972, then-Majority Leader Hale Boggs of Louisiana and then-Rep. Nick Begich of Alaska disappeared while flying in a plane from Anchorage to Juneau, and longtime GOP Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska died in a plane crash in the state in 2010.

This story has been updated.