Witnesses on shore reported seeing the aircraft “dive into the water” in Puget Sound around 3:10 p.m. of Sunday. The US Coast Guard launched a search for the missing after a body was recovered by a member of the public, but suspended operations on Monday afternoon. “All relatives have been informed of this decision,” the coast guard said on Twitter, after crews searched an area of more than 2,100 square nautical miles (nearly 2,800 square miles). “Our hearts go out to the families, loved ones and friends of those still missing and the dead.” Four Coast Guard vessels, a rescue helicopter and an aircraft, as well as nearby rescue and law enforcement agencies, were involved in the search. A team from the National Transportation Safety Board was also sent to investigate. The cause of the crash, which involved a DHC-3 Turbine Otter, is not yet known. Coast Guard spokesman William Colclough said the Northwest Seaplanes flight had departed Friday Harbor, a popular tourist destination in the San Juan Islands, and was headed to Renton Municipal Airport, the company’s home base. The plane went down in Mutiny Bay off Whidbey Island, about 50 miles northwest of downtown Seattle, and about halfway between Friday Harbor and Renton, a suburb of Seattle. Image: Coast Guard helicopter at the crash site. Photo: Courtney Riffkin/The Seattle Times via AP Floatplanes are a common sight around Puget Sound, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean. They have floats, which allow them to land on water. There are several daily flights between the Seattle area and the San Juan Islands. Northwest Seaplanes is a family business founded by Clyde Carlson, according to the company’s website. He has 24 years of “flight without accident or incident,” the website said.
