Urgent search underway after plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean south of San Francisco near Half Moon Bay
- Officials did not reveal how many passengers were on board at the time of the crash
A plane crashed into the icy waters of the Pacific Ocean on Sunday evening after flying “erratically” near an airport south of San Francisco, authorities said.
Sergeant Philip Hallworth of the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office said crews were searching for the plane that crashed in Half Moon Bay around 7:15 p.m.
Officials have recovered some wreckage, reports said ABC San Francisco, but there’s still no word on possible survivors. It is not clear how many people were on board at the time of the crash.
The crash occurred a few miles from Half Moon Bay Airport on Cabrillo Highway, Hallworth said. The airport is located in Moss Beach, about 22 miles south of San Francisco.
The U.S. Coast Guard, California Highway Patrol and fire departments also responded to the crash site.
One witness described the plane as “quite big,” adding that she heard the engine “pop” before the crash. In a report by CBS San Francisco, The plane was said to be a twin-propeller plane.
A plane crashed into the icy waters of the Pacific Ocean on Sunday evening after flying “erratically” near an airport south of San Francisco
After the crash, rescue efforts in San Francisco continued well into the night
There was no immediate information on the number of people on board the plane
‘We were eating on the terrace and we heard an engine purring, like you hear in the movies when a plane is about to crash. And you hear the engine, and it came around the corner. It’s kind of like a big plane, very visible,” witness Melissa Richter told the ABC affiliate.
‘We thought something was wrong because it was so close to the restaurant. And then he was obviously turning back and forth, and then it seemed like he accelerated, went a little faster, then he went down and the engine died. Then it came in, and that’s when we lost sight of it,” she added.
Videos broadcast by local media show a rescue helicopter hovering over the waters near San Francisco.
NBC San Francisco reports that visibility in the region was poor on Sunday evening.