Accident ALASKA. Sean O'KEEFE (ex-EADS NA) : DeHavilland DHC-3T (N455A)

A safety investigation has begun on an aircraft crash in Alaska late on 9 August that included a former senator and the chief executive officer of EADS North America among the passengers.

The National Transportation Safety Board has dispatched a "go team" to investigate the crash 16km (10 miles) northwest of Aleknagik, Alaska.
The agency says local reports indicate that five of the nine people aboard the DeHavilland DHC-3T (N455A) were killed in the accident.
The passengers included former Senator Ted Stevens, an Alaskan Republican, and Sean O'Keefe, CEO of EADS NA and former NASA administrator and Secretary of the Navy during the George W. Bush Administration.
It is not clear if either O'Keefe or Stevens are among the four survivors.
EADS NA released a statement confirming that O'Keefe was aboard the aircraft, noting that "local authorities are reporting that there are survivors and a rescue operation is underway. No other details are available at this time".

EADS North America confirms that chief executive officer Sean O'Keefe survived an aircraft crash late on 9 August in Alaska, the same accident that killed former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens.

O'Keefe and his son, Kevin, are among four survivors of the DeHavilland DHC-3T Otter that crashed in a remote area near Dillingham in southwest Alaska.

Five others on board the aircraft were killed, including the 86-year-old Stevens.

Aerospace Industries Association, a Washington DC-based advocacy group, released a statement praising Stevens for "improving aviation safety throughout his beloved state" and championing the core technologies for the next generation air transportation system.

EADS, meanwhile, issued a statement echoing the AIA's "deepest sympathy to the families of those less fortunate in this terrible accident". The company adds: "We owe a debt of gratitude for the heroic efforts of the members of the rescue crew and others who rushed to the scene. We look forward to Sean's full recovery and his rapid return to EADS North America."

O'Keefe's business unit is in the midst of a tough competition with Boeing for a US Air Force tanker contract worth about $35 billion.

O'Keefe is the former NASA Adminstrator, Secretary of the Navy and chancellor of the Louisiana State University, among other high-level public and private positions. EADS NA hired O'Keefe on 1 November 2009 as CEO, replacing Ralph Crosby, who was elevated to chairman.