Nine people remain missing after an airplane crashed into the Puget Sound in Washington, DC. A small child is among the missing. The crash occurred Sunday after a floatplane went down on a flight from Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands, a hot spot for tourists. The small plane was on the way to a Seattle suburb called Renton.
The extensive search included advanced rescue equipment such as four Coast Guard vessels, a rescue helicopter, and an aircraft. Rescue and law enforcement agencies in the vicinity came to help as well.
The Coast Guard said late Sunday that two vessels would be used to search for the missing during the night, while air patrols would pick back up in the morning.
At 3:11 p.m., the call for the crash came in. The Coast guard said that nine people were still missing after one body had been recovered. According to authorities, the reason for the crash is unknown and remains under investigation.
About halfway between Friday Harbor and Renton, in Mutiny Bay off Whidbey Island, which is roughly 30 miles (50 kilometers) northwest of downtown Seattle, the plane dived. The single-engine propeller plane was a de Havilland DHC-3 Otter, said the National Transportation Safety Board.
The plane was flown for 19 minutes before it crashed.
