Rescuers are searching for the nine unaccounted-for passengers of a floating aircraft that crashed Sunday afternoon in Mutiny Bay, Washington.
The floating plane was a 55-year-old De Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter, according to a flight tracker. It took off from Friday Harbour and was airborne for 19 minutes before it crashed.
The U.S. Coast Guards Pacific Northwest District said in a press release that ten people, including one child, were aboard when the aircraft went down just after 3 p.m.
The body of one of the men has been recovered, the release said. Initial reports said there were nine people on the aircraft.
Mutiny Cove is located just west of Whidbey Island and is an hour or so north of Seattle.
USCG Pacific Northwest tweeted late Sunday night that the aircraft was headed for Renton, Washington. Earlier reports had said it was headed for Tacoma International Airport in Seattle.
The Coast Guard has sent rescue helicopters, boats, and aircraft to carry out their search. According to the USCG news release, first responders from South Whidbey Fire, the Island County Sheriffs Office and Snohomish County Sheriffs Office were also at the scene.
The cause of the accident is not known, officials said.
For more on this story, please consider these sources:
- Float plane carrying 10 people, including a child, crashes into Washington’s Mutiny Bay, Coast Guard says CNN
- Seattle plane crash: One person dead, nine unaccounted for after float plane plunges into bay Fox News
- Officials provide update on response to plane crash off Whidbey Island KING 5
- 1 dead, 9 unaccounted for in floatplane crash near Whidbey Island The Seattle Times
- One dead, at least eight others missing after floatplane crash NBC News