EADS Exec Continues to Fly After Surviving Alaska Crash

Wearing a neck brace as a result of the small-plane crash he survived in the Alaskan wilderness two months ago, Shaun O’Keefe, EADS North America CEO, told CNBC Friday that he continues to fly because it’s generally safe—safer than traveling in a car.

Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, a Republican, and a good friend of O'Keefe's, and four others died as a result of the crash. The group was en route from a fishing lodge when their plane crashed into a mountainside.

“The experience was really bizarre,” said O’Keefe, who flies frequently for his business, which manufactures airplanes.

“There was nothing remarkable about the flight: There was intermittent rain. We were flying along at a normal pace, then, that’s it: Impact!”

O’Keefe said he was disoriented for a few minutes after the impact, but then awake for 17 hours until the rescue crew found them.