1 Dead, 9 Unaccounted For In Float Plane Crash: US Coast Guard
At least one person is dead and several others are unaccounted for after a float plane crash in Puget Sound on Sunday, officials said.
“A de Havilland DHC-3 Otter crashed in Mutiny Bay off Whidbey Island, Wash., around 3:10 p.m. local time Sunday,” the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.
There were 10 people onboard, nine adults and one child, the U.S. Coast Guard said. The FAA said initial reports “indicate 10 people were aboard.”
The Coast Guard recovered the body of one person, the branch’s Pacific Northwest division wrote on Twitter Sunday evening.
“The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate,” the FAA said. “The NTSB will be in charge of the investigation and will provide additional updates.”
The plane was traveling from Friday Harbor to Renton Municipal Airport when it crashed, the USCG said, and the cause of the crash is unknown at this time. The Coast Guard had initially said the plane was traveling from Friday Harbor to Seattle Tacoma International Airport, which it later corrected.
The Coast Guard responded to a report of the crash that was initially said to have eight adults and one child onboard, the USCG Pacific Northwest had said earlier Sunday. The USCG later corrected its statement, saying there were 10 people unaccounted for.
South Whidbey Fire/EMS said that its crew was at the scene near the west side of Whidbey Island.