成人X站

The U.S. Coast Guard is actively searching for nine people unaccounted for after a float plane crashed west of Whidbey Island Sunday afternoon.

Plane crash west of Whidbey Island kills 1, leaves 9 missing

The plane, a de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter registered to Northwest Seaplanes, was in its direct flight path to Renton Municipal Airport after departing from Friday Harbor when it 鈥渢ook a steep dive into the water鈥� near Mutiny Bay, according to Scott Giard, spokesperson for the Coast Guard.

Giard tells 成人X站 Newsradio that the plane hit the water at nearly 100 mph.

鈥淭he reason we鈥檙e out searching is that we鈥檙e searching for survivors at this point. We鈥檙e in full search mode,鈥� Giard continued.

air (2 aircraft & crews) and patrol boat crews (Cutters Osprey and Blue Shark) continue the search for 9 individuals aboard the seaplane that crashed in Mutiny Bay, WA Active search efforts are underway in Mutiny Bay west of Whidbey Island.

鈥� USCGPacificNorthwest (@USCGPacificNW)

The search and rescue operation is complicated by the fact that the site of the crash is beyond a shelf where floor depths can drop to hundreds of feet. The Coast Guard鈥檚 capabilities are still surface-focused, so its operations are coordinating with other agencies to send divers and an unmanned submersible, a remotely operated underwater vehicle, to aid in the rescue.

Water temperature and “the will to live” are key, Giard said of the nine individuals for whom the Coast Guard has not accounted as of Monday morning.