Five of nine people aboard a GCI plane that crashed near Dillingham are reported dead, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. A spokesman for former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens said Tuesday morning that Stevens was on board the plane and is among the dead.

"I can confirm to you that the senator died in the crash," said Mitch Rose, former chief of staff to Stevens.

Also aboard the plane was former NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe, according to media reports.

Another plane spotted the wreckage 17 miles north of Dillingham at around 7 p.m. Monday, according to the Alaska Air National Guard. Rescuers were expected to reach the wreckage at midnight, but a handful of good Samaritans were on the scene earlier in the evening, Guard spokesman Maj. Guy Hayes said Monday night.

The downed plane -- a 1957 DeHavilland DHC-3 Otter -- is registered to General Communications Inc., according to a friend of one of the people believed to have been on the plane. The Anchorage-based telecom company operates a lodge near Dillingham. In summer, GCI employees, clients and guests routinely fly to the lodge on GCI's plane.

A friend of Stevens' confirmed to Alaska Dispatch that he was on the plane. But who died and who survived is unknown as of 8:50 a.m. Tuesday. In a statement released shortly before 10 a.m. Tuesday, GCI president and CEO Ron Duncan said the company was not able to confirm specific information about the plane's passengers.

"We are aware of news reports stating that four of the nine individuals on board the aircraft have survived," Duncan's statement reads. "At this point, I cannot confirm or comment on these reports. We are waiting for authoritative information from the rescue units. All of our energies are focused on working with the rescue units and mobilizing to support the families and friends of the individuals on the aircraft."

The Air National Guard landed a helicopter at the crash scene at about 7:30 a.m., according to a Guard press release, and medical workers are currently treating victims at the scene. A U.S. Coast Guard C-130 is providing overhead support and will be available to fly victims in need of serious medical care from Dillingham to Anchorage.

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Ted Stevens

No matter whether an Alaskan calls former Senator Ted Stevens "Uncle Ted" with fondness or derision, that Alaskan cannot deny that the Great Land would not be what it is today without him.