MONTEREY, Calif. — All three people aboard a small twin-engine plane that crashed into the Pacific Ocean off California’s central coast perished, law enforcement officials said.
The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office confirmed late Sunday that the three occupants of the plane that went down about 300 yards (275 meters) off Point Pinos were dead. Officials didn’t say what led to the Saturday crash.
Witnesses said they heard an aircraft engine revving and then a splash in the water, KSBW-TV reported. People on shore later reported seeing debris wash up from the crashed plane.
The twin-engine Beech 95-B55 Baron with three people aboard took off from the San Carlos airport at 10:11 p.m. and was last seen at 10:37 p.m. near Monterey, according to flight tracking data from FlightAware.com.
Searchers in a boat found one person around 3 a.m. Divers found the remaining two people inside the aircraft between 6:30 a.m. and 9:15 a.m. All three were unresponsive, the Coast Guard said.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate.