A former aide to former Republican Senator Ted Stevens, speaking under the condition of anonymity, claims that the congressman was aboard a small plane that crashed killed in a small plane crash on Monday night in Alaska, the New York Times reports. The most recent reports indicate that five of the nine people aboard were killed in the accident. The most recent dispatches indicate that, of the nine people aboard, Senator Stevens, 86, and at least four others died.
The United States Coast Guard and Alaska Air National Guard rescue teams arrived at the wreckage in a mountainous area north of Bristol Bay this morning, nearly ten hours after the crash. Foggy conditions and insufficient radar coverage delayed their response.
Updates are being posted frequently on the New York Times website.
–Riley Blanton
(Post updated)