HALF MOON BAY — Search-and-rescue teams were continuing to look for survivors after the wreckage of a plane crash was discovered late Sunday off the coast of Half Moon Bay, according to authorities.
The first report of a plane in distress came to authorities at 7:13 p.m. Sunday, according to Sgt. Phillip Hallworth of the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office. The caller described a small propeller plane flying “erratically” in the area of the Half Moon Bay Airport and Moss Beach Distillery.
Hallworth said the caller reported to have heard the engine “sputter out” and believed the plane had gone down.
A nearby Coast Guard unit quickly put a diver in the water, but that first search did not locate any wreckage or people. A Sheriff’s Office drone later found what was thought to be wreckage in the water, Hallworth confirmed to the Bay Area News Group on Monday morning.
Hallworth said the number of people aboard the plane when it went down was unknown as of Monday morning, but he noted that the plane was small, limiting the number of people who could be on board. He said both the Coast Guard and Sheriff’s Office still had search-and-rescue teams in the water.
The plane originated from the East Bay, Hallworth said, but he declined to name the exact airport it took off from.
Bay City News Service contributed to this report.
Source: www.mercurynews.com