Sen. Ted Stevens,86, Has Died In Alaska Plane Crash…The Longest Serving Republican Senator In U.S.History.

Breaking News–CNN and other major news outlets are reporting conflicting information about the condition of ex-Senator Ted Stevens, who was on board the small private plane that crashed Monday night near Dillingham, Alaska.(CNN)

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Reports from officials in Alaska were that nine people were aboard the aircraft that crashed Monday evening and that “it appears that there are five fatalities,” NTSB spokesman Ted Lopatkiewicz .

A family spokesman has told the media that former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens was indeed killed in a plane crash in southwestern Alaska. Mitch Rose told the AP that the family had been notified that the 86-year-old Stevens was among those killed.(CBS)

It was believed that the former head of NASA Sean O’Keefe,may have also perished in the  crash Monday night in a rugged stretch of Alaska, but it was later found out that he was one of the survivors.

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Sean O’Keefe,54, was once the head of NASA, left NASA in 2005 to become chancellor of Louisiana State University. He is now the CEO of defense contractor EADS North America and oversees the bid for the hotly contested Air Force refueling jet contract. (WIKI)

Ted Stevens and Sean O’Keefe were aboard a DeHavilland DHC-3t owned by GCI when it crashed.

A DeHavillland DHC-3T similar to the one involved in the Sen. Ted Stevens crash

The cause of the crash is being investigated by the NTSB.

Ted Stevens, was the  longest-serving Republican senator in U.S. history who lost his seat after a corruption conviction that was later dismissed, serving from December 24, 1968, until January 3, 2009. Stevens was President pro tempore in the 108th and 109th Congresses from January 3, 2003, to January 3, 2007.

Stevens was the longest-serving Republican senator in history but Strom Thurmond, who might otherwise have held this title, was a Democrat until 1964)and 7th longest-serving senator in history.(WIKI)

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Ironically, this is not the first plane crash Stevens had been involved in. Shortly after being elected to his second full term in 1978, he was aboard a private jet that went down at Anchorage International Airport, killing his first wife, Ann.(SOURCE)

Unfortunetly,his luck ran out on Monday night, as he tragically went down in this catastrophic plane crash.

Ted Stevens was a much beloved political figure on both sides of the aisle, as he spent over six decades as a public servant, fighting tirelessly for the people of Alaska that he represented, and ultimately, all of the people in the United States.

May he rest in peace, and may his memory,life story and legacy never be forgotten, or taken for granted.(BIO)

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For more on this breaking story…

Huffington Post

New York Times

Washington Post