Crews are searching for survivors after a small plane crashed into the waters near Half Moon Bay around 7 p.m. Sunday. Wreckage of the craft was found overnight, and authorities are still trying to determine what happened.
No information has been released about how many people were on board, nor from where the plane took off. The plane went down near Moss Beach, about two miles north of the Half Moon Bay Airport.
“As the morning light has come up this morning, crews are working to investigate and search for answers,” San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Heather Enders wrote in an email. Along with the sheriff’s office, the Coastside Fire Protection District, California Highway Patrol and U.S. Coast Guard are involved in the response.
The Coast Guard launched a Dolphin helicopter and a small boat from Station Golden Gate late Sunday to search the area, said Petty Officer Edward Wargo.
Witness reports described a plane flying erratically before falling from sight, according to the sheriff’s office.
“We were having dinner out on the patio and we heard this motor engine puttering — like you hear in the movies, when a plane is about to crash,” Melissa Richter, who was visiting the area from Maine, told ABC 7 News. “It was definitely pivoting back and forth, and then it looked like it put on the gas, went a little bit faster, then it went down and the engine cut out.”