One person died and nine others, including a child, went missing after a seaplane crashed in the water near Seattle.
Witnesses on the ground reported seeing the plane “dive into the water” in Puget Sound at around 3:10 pm on Sunday.
The US coast guard began a search for missing persons after a body was recovered by a member of the public, but suspended operations on Monday afternoon.
“All closest relatives have been notified of this decision,” the coast guard said on Twitter after crews raided an area of more than 2,100 square nautical miles (nearly 2,800 square miles).
“Our heart goes out to the families, loved ones and friends of those who are missing and the deceased.”
Four coast guard ships, a rescue helicopter and a plane were involved in the search, as well as nearby law enforcement and rescue forces.
A team from the National Transportation Safety Board was also sent to investigate.
The cause of the accident, which involved an Otter DHC-3 Turbine, is not yet known.
Coast Guard spokesman William Colclough said the Northwest Seaplanes flight departed from Friday Harbor, a popular tourist destination in the San Juan Islands, and was headed for Renton Municipal Airport, the airline’s home base.
The plane crashed at Mutiny Bay off Whidbey Island, about 30 miles (50 km) northwest of downtown Seattle, and about halfway between Friday Harbor and Renton, a Seattle suburb.
A coast guard helicopter at the crash site. Pic: Courtney Riffkin / The Seattle Times via AP
Seaplanes are a common sight around Puget Sound, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean. They have pontoons, which allow them to land on the water.
There are multiple daily flights between the Seattle area and the San Juan Islands.
Northwest Seaplanes is a family-owned business founded by Clyde Carlson, according to the company’s website.
It has 24 years of “uneventful and uneventful flying,” the website states.
