Former U.S. senator Ted Stevens was killed in a plane crash on Monday night in the U.S. state of Alaska, local media reported on Tuesday.

The single-engine, high-wing propeller plane, a DeHavilland DHC-3T with tail number N455A is photographed as it departs Vernon, British Columbia, Canada in this April 29, 2005 file photograph. The plane crashed about 10 miles (16 km) northwest of Aleknagik, Alaska, at 8 p.m. local time on August 9, 2010 (0400 GMT Tuesday), according to the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. [Xinhua/Reuters Photo]

A source familiar with ongoing rescue efforts confirmed the death of Stevens, CNN said in a report.

Rescue crews were working to get at least three injured people away from the scene and it is possible there may be more survivors, Guy Hayes, a spokesman for the Alaska Air National Guard, was quoted as saying.

Dave Dittman, a former aide and longtime family friend of Ted Stevens, said that he received a call overnight saying that the former senator was dead, KTUU television station in Alaska reported earlier on its website.

Dittman then told other local media that he was not sure about the death of Stevens, before CNN reported the confirmation.

Nine people were believed to be onboard the plane, including former NASA chief Sean O'Keefe. The status of O'Keefe, now the CEO of defense contractor EADS North America, was not known so far.

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Tuesday said that five of the nine passengers on board the plane were reported dead.