A seaplane with 11 people on board crashed and caught fire a short time later in the Puget Sound area north of Seattle on Thursday evening. All 11 people survived, authorities said.
Kenmore Air said in a statement that one of its planes, a de Havilland DHC-3 Otter carrying 10 passengers and a pilot from Seattle to Roche Harbor in the San Juan Islands, “was involved in an accident” at about 5:15 p.m. local time in Shallow Bay, near Sucia Island, and that “everyone aboard has been accounted for.”
The San Juan County Sheriff’s Office said everyone on the plane “was rescued from the water” and that multiple patients have injuries “ranging from head injuries to broken bones and lacerations.” One patient was in critical condition, the sheriff’s office said.
First responders included the Coast Guard and local emergency personnel, Kenmore Air said. The sheriff’s office said there were three airlift ambulances at the scene.
Lt. Cmdr. Marshall Burtt told “CBS Evening News” that once the U.S. Coast Guard arrived, the seaplane had already mostly sunk, and their focus was getting survivors out of the chilling water.
“The pilot probably did a really good job to set it down gently enough to give everybody a chance,” Burtt said. “A lot of things went right to get everybody out of the plane.”
There was no early word on what might have gone wrong with the plane. The National Transportation Safety Board confirmed to CBS News on Friday that it is investigating the crash. It said the airplane “impacted the water and subsequently caught on fire.” The airplane was expected to be recovered on Friday and moved to a secure facility for further examination.
Dave Eastman via AP
The NTSB may be able to quickly get an idea of what happened because investigators will be able to interview the pilot and witnesses and watch videos of the crash, aviation safety expert John Cox told The Associated Press.
Flight tracking data from Flightradar24 showed the seaplane made a sharp 180-degree turn about three minutes before the crash, heading back toward Sucia Island after passing it, AP reported.
Video taken by onlooker Monica Scott showed the plane wobbling as it flew only a few feet over the water, then crashing and bursting into flames.
Monica Scott
The Coast Guard provided video of the burning aircraft.
U.S. Coast Guard / CBS News
Kenmore Air said, “Out of respect for those involved, we will not speculate regarding the cause of the accident.” Its CEO, David Gudgel, said the carrier is “fully cooperating with the investigating authorities, and we will continue providing verified information as it becomes available.”
Kenmore said it’s “the largest seaplane airline in the United States” with flights throughout the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia in addition to a “wheeled aircraft operation, Kenmore Air Express.”
Shallow Bay is at the northwestern tip of Sucia Island State Park in Washington state’s San Juan Islands, north of Seattle and near the Canadian border.