document: Freshman congressman Larkin Smith -LRB- R-Miss . -RRB- died in a light plane crash in Mississippi , authorities said Monday , making him the second member of the House killed in an aviation accident in a week . The single-engine Cessna 177 crashed Sunday night in thick woods near the tiny community of Janice . Smith and the pilot , Charles Vierling , who also was killed , were flying from Hattiesburg to Gulfport , according to federal and local officials . Searchers combed the heavily wooded DeSoto National Forest through the night but were unable to find the wreckage until Monday morning , when they spotted it from the air . `` There was a 300-foot-long path cut by the plane , '' Harrison County Sheriff 's Department Capt. Rick Gaston said in a telephone interview . Smith , 45 , died the same day the wreckage of a plane carrying Rep. Mickey Leland -LRB- D-Tex . -RRB- and 15 others was found on an Ethiopian mountainside . Leland 's plane had been missing almost a week after he took off on a fact-finding mission to combat hunger . News of Smith 's death was followed by an outpouring of sympathy from Mississippi to Washington , even as Smith 's colleagues were still mourning Leland 's death . At the White House , spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said President and Mrs. Bush `` deeply regret '' Smith 's death , adding that Smith , who was elected to a seat vacated by Sen. Trent Lott -LRB- R-Miss . -RRB- , `` was just beginning a promising career in the Congress . '' Smith , a former sheriff and police chief , was already developing a reputation on the House Judiciary Committee as a zealous opponent of illegal drugs . `` We -LRB- the congressional delegation -RRB- had come to depend on him in the fight against drugs , '' said Rep. G. V. -LRB- Sonny -RRB- Montgomery -LRB- D-Miss . -RRB- `` This is a tremendous loss to his family , his state , and the nation . '' Smith had thrown out the first ball at the Dixie Youth World Series baseball tournament Sunday and was heading home to Gulfport , taking off at about 9:10 p.m. for the 35-minute flight . Jack Barker , a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman here , said the plane `` lost radar contact '' at 9:25 . He said area residents `` heard the airplane crash '' and notified officials . Barker said visibility was 4 to 6 miles , and `` rain was reported , but not heavy . '' Lamar Breland told the Associated Press that `` my wife was preparing to go to bed , and we heard a plane coming over . I thought at the time it was unusual for a plane to be in the area at night . '' He said he heard a `` revving sound and then a crash . '' In Miami , Jorge Prellezo , regional director of the National Transportation Safety Board , said a team of investigators had been dispatched to the scene . Investigators generally take months to establish a probable cause of such incidents . The plane belonged to the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies Inc. in Gulfport . The institute immediately issued a statement saying that Smith had requested use of the plane `` to accommodate his busy schedule . '' Jody Canady , a spokeswoman , said Smith was to reimburse the institute . The statement said the plane , manufactured in 1973 , and purchased by the institute last year , had a `` current inspection . '' The pilot received his license in 1964 and had a physical examination on June 28 , the statement said . Smith was elected last November to represent Mississippi 's 5th congressional district . He was Harrison County Sheriff from 1984 to 1989 , and was Gulfport police chief from 1977 to 1983 . As sheriff , Smith coordinated anti-drug efforts of federal , local and state agencies across five states . Smith , survived by a wife and one child , was lauded by Mississippi Gov. Ray Mabus , who called his death `` a tragic loss '' for the state and ordered flags on state property flown at half staff . Friends and former associates in Gulfport were stunned and saddened . Gaston , who worked for Smith nine years both in the sheriff 's department and earlier when Smith was Gulfport police chief , called Smith `` a pillar of strength . He was progressive , and above all , honest . You just never thought something like this would happen . '' Researcher Edith M. Stanley in Atlanta and staff writer Lori Silver in Washington contributed to this story .
extractive_keyphrases: airplane crash freshman congressman larkin smith light plane crash wreckage mississippi aviation accident
abstractive_keyphrases: single-engine cessna 177