Alaska TV station KTUU is reporting that Ted Stevens died in last evening’s plane crash. They are citing Dave Dittman, a former Stevens aide and longtime family friend.

Late Update: We just obtained a statement from Dittman, in which he stresses that the news he received was not confirmed:

Dave received a call last night and was told that Senator Stevens had perished in a plane crash. That has not been confirmed. That is just what he was told. In the meantime he has talked with close friends of the family and it has not been confirmed to them either. And as recent as 8:50 AK time this morning it still had not been confirmed.

David Kurtz

David Kurtz is Managing Editor and Washington Bureau Chief of Talking Points Memo where he oversees the news operations of TPM and its sister sites.