Fatal Plane Crash in the Puget Sound
One person is dead and 9 are missing after a floatplane crashed in the Puget Sound. One person was killed and nine people remained missing, including a child, after a floatplane crashed Sunday afternoon in Puget Sound in Washington state. The National Transportation Safety Board said the plane was a de Havilland DHC-3 Otter, a single-engine propeller plane. The post Fatal Plane Crash in the Puget Sound appeared first on The Seattle Medium.
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One person is dead and 9 are missing after a floatplane crashed in the Puget Sound. One person was killed and nine people remained missing, including a child, after a floatplane crashed Sunday afternoon in Puget Sound in Washington state. The National Transportation Safety Board said the plane was a de Havilland DHC-3 Otter, a single-engine propeller plane.
The plane had water landing capabilities. Floatplanes, which have pontoons allowing them to land on water, are a common sight around Puget Sound, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean. There are multiple, daily flights between the Seattle area and the San Juan Islands, a scenic archipelago northwest of Seattle that draws tourists from around the world.
The plane was flying from Friday Harbor, a popular tourist destination in the San Juan Islands, to Renton, a southern suburb of Seattle. Four Coast Guard vessels, a rescue helicopter and an aircraft were involved in the extensive search, along with nearby rescue and law enforcement agencies.
It was an afternoon tragedy. The crash was reported at 3:11 p.m. The Coast Guard said one body had been recovered and nine people were still missing as of around 9 p.m. The cause of the crash is unknown, authorities said. The plane went down in Mutiny Bay off of Whidbey Island, roughly 30 miles (50 kilometers) northwest of downtown Seattle and about halfway between Friday Harbor and Renton.
The plane was old. The float plane was a 55-year-old de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter, according to Flightradar24. It took off from Friday Harbor and was in the air for 19 minutes before crashing. Video posted by a witness showed several boats in the water and what appeared to be a Coast Guard helicopter flying overhead.
After it happened, several agencies responded to the scene in Mutiny Bay, including the Island County Sheriff, Snohomish County Sheriff, and Coast Guard. These aircraft, which also fly between Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia, frequently travel over Seattle and land in Lake Washington, not far from the city’s iconic Space Needle.
The post Fatal Plane Crash in the Puget Sound appeared first on The Seattle Medium.
