JUNEAU, Alaska — A plane carrying former Sen. Ted Stevens and ex-NASA chief Sean O'Keefe crashed near a remote fishing village in Alaska, killing the longtime senator and at least four others, authorities said Tuesday.

O'Keefe survived the crash, which was a stunning event in a state where Stevens became the most beloved political figure in Alaska history during his 40 years in the Senate, earning a reputation as a tireless advocate for projects that brought millions of federal dollars to the state. He was 86.

Stevens and O'Keefe are longtime fishing buddies who had been planning a trip near where the float plane crashed while carrying nine passengers.

Rescuers arrived on helicopter early Tuesday and were giving medical care to at least three survivors, Alaska National Guard spokesman Maj. Guy Hayes said.

National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Ted Lopatkiewicz told The Associated Press in Washington that "it appears that there are five fatalities." The crash site was outside Dillingham in Bristol Bay about 325 miles southwest of Anchorage.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known.