Woman’s Body Found After Small Plane Crashed into the Ocean Off California Coast
The plane was reportedly seen "flying erratically" near Half Moon Bay and Moss Beach before it disappeared Sunday evening, authorities said
• The San Mateo County Sheriff's Office said a woman's body was found near the site of a plane crash that occurred Sunday evening near Moss Beach in California
• The small plane involved in Sunday's crash was reportedly seen "flying erratically" before it disappeared
• The NTSB believes two people were on the plane when it crashed
Authorities say a woman’s body has been found near the site of a small plane crash off the coast of California.
Multiple agencies responded to the Moss Beach area Sunday evening after authorities received “reports of a small airplane flying erratically” nearby, according to a press release from the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office.
The SMCSO said the single-engine Cozy Mark IV was found upside down in the water near Ross Cove, according to ABC affiliate KGO-TV.
Two people are believed to have been onboard the plane when it crashed, the National Transportation Safety Board said Monday, according to CW affiliate KRON-TV.
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Debris “consistent with parts from a plane” was found in the water near the shoreline later that evening, the SMCSO said. The next day, a commercial fishing boat spotted a woman’s body in the water.
The woman’s body was brought ashore and transported to the San Mateo County Coroner’s Office. Her identity has not been released, but authorities believe she is "likely associated" with the crash since her body was found in the same location.
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“The timeliness and the proximity of where the wreckage was located gives it a good likelihood that this was one of the people aboard that aircraft,” SMCSO Sergeant Philip Hallworth said, according to NBC affiliate KNTV.
The Coast Guard announced Monday that it had suspended its search for survivors of the crash, having searched “approximately 28 square miles during a period of 5.7 hours.”
"It's never easy to make the decision to suspend search efforts, and our deepest sympathies go out to the families involved in this incident,” Ian McGoohan, operations unit controller at the Sector San Francisco Command Center, said in the Coast Guard’s release.
"We are truly grateful for the efforts of our partners assisting in search efforts,” McGoohan added.
An investigation into the crash is ongoing, according to the SMCSO.
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