Floatplane Down in Puget Sound, Coast Guard Desperately Searches for 9 Missing Passengers
One person is confirmed dead in a floatplane crash that took place Sunday in Puget Sound, Washington.
The plane went down in Mutiny Bay, west of Whidbey Island, the Coast Guard said, according to KOMO-TV.
The Coast Guard said the crash happened at about 3:10 p.m. Sunday.
As of Monday morning, South Whidbey Fire said the nine people missing are presumed to be dead, according to KING-TV.
The search is now a recovery effort.
KING-TV reported that searchers recovered “intact items from inside the plane and a piece that had the tail number of the involved plane.”
Officials said one of the passengers was a child; the rest were adults.
The plane was operated by Friday Harbor Seaplanes, according to KING-TV. However, the Seattle Times, citing Chief Petty Officer William Colclough, said it was owned by Northwest Seaplanes. The difference could not be resolved as of Monday morning.
A statement from the Federal Aviation Administration said the plane that crashed was a de Havilland DHC-3 Otter floatplane, according to NBC.
According to Flightradar24, the float plane was 55 years old.
Granular ADS-B data indicates that last signal was received at 22:08:53 UTC time. At that point the aircraft was at 100 feet altitude and the vertical speed was -11712 fpm. pic.twitter.com/BQziWjB75B
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) September 5, 2022
The plane was en route to Renton, the Coast Guard tweeted.
It had departed from Friday Harbor, according to a Coast Guard news release.
The Coast Guard said multiple Coast Guard vessels, a rescue helicopter and a plane were involved in the search, along with local first responders.
No cause for the crash has been determined. The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the accident, according to ABC.
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