Former US Senator Ted Stevens was among five passengers who died when a small plane crashed in Alaska, local media citing a family friend reported yesterday.

Alaskan NBC television affiliate KTUU quoted Dave Dittman, a former aide and longtime friend of Mr Stevens, as saying the 86-year-old Republican politician died in the crash, which occurred in a remote region of the state on Monday night.

A total of nine people were on board the plane, including former Nasa chief Sean O’Keefe, the current North American boss of European aerospace giant EADS.

Mr O’Keefe had been on a private trip to the remote northwestern US state, sources said.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said earlier five people were known to have died in the crash. The fate of the four other passengers was still unclear until late last night.

The Anchorage Daily News said Mr Stevens was flying to the Agulowak Lodge, owned by the GCI company which also owns the single engine plane that crashed. Mr Stevens, the longest-serving Republican in US Senate history, lost a tight race in November 2008, just one week after he was found guilty of corruption regarding gifts he received from an oil services firm.

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin described the crash as “heartbreaking” in a post on micro-blogging site Twitter. “Alaska’s heart surrounds loved ones. More info coming in; pls pray for Dillingham rescue this morning,” she wrote.

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