Woman’s body found after plane crashes off Half Moon Bay coast
Written by James Torrez and KTVU Staff
HALF MOON BAY, Calif. (FOX-35)- UPDATE ON JAN 15, 2024 AT 3:13 PM- The San Mateo County Sheriff's Office said that they discovered a woman's body after a plane crash near Half Moon Bay.
Sgt. Phillip Hallworth confirmed with KTVU that commercial fisherman found the body which crews believe is linked to a plane that crashed on Sunday night near Moss Beach.
Deputies said the woman has yet to be identified and the Federal Aviation Administration says that there was another person on board. Officials have not released details on the second person on board the plane.
Earlier on Monday morning, the U.S. Coast Guard suspended their search.
Coast Guard suspends search for plane, survivors off Half Moon Bay coast
The US Coast Guard on Monday suspended its search for a plane that crashed near Half Moon Bay and any possible survivors that may have been aboard.
"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 a statement.
Coast Guard crews received a call from a San Mateo County dispatcher on Sunday about 7:20 p.m. that a two-propellor plane had gone missing south of Moss Beach.
An Air Station San Francisco MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew and a Station Golden Gate boat crew was launched to assist with search efforts around the area of the downed aircraft, searching a total of approximately 28 square miles during a period of 5.7 hours, the Coast Guard said.
Witnesses told investigators that they saw a plane flying erratically in the airspace off the coast and then all of a sudden, they didn't see it anymore.
The witnesses were eating dinner nearby when they heard the engine sputter.
The two-propeller plane took off from the East Bay.
Crews said they have since found pieces of the plane. It's unclear how many people were aboard or where the plane was headed.
