The Bainbridge Island Review
The Coast Guard has stopped searching for a 70-year-old man missing from a plane crash in Eagle Harbor.
The search for the missing man was suspended at 2:08 p.m. Monday, according to Coast Guard officials. He was not identified.
Boaters near Eagle Harbor reported seeing a plane go into the water just after 5 p.m. Sunday, and when they went to look closer, they found a woman floating in the water near the crash site.
The woman, who was injured and bleeding, was rescued by the good Samaritans. She was then taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle for treatment and was in reportedly critical condition.
The plane crashed in water that was about 100 feet deep. Coast Guard officials began searching the area late Sunday for the other person aboard the downed aircraft, described as a two-seater, fixed-wing, single-engine airplane built in 1974.
The search extended into Monday, and included a 45-foot Response Boat-Medium crew from Coast Guard Station Seattle and an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Air Station Port Angeles.
Members of the Seattle Harbor Patrol, North Kitsap Fire & Rescue, the Bainbridge Island Police Department also assisted in the search, as well as approximately 20 volunteer vessel crews, Coast Guard officials said.
The Coast Guard aircrew searched until after sunset Sunday and headed back to Port Angeles shortly before 10 p.m., while Coast Guard crews from Seattle and the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Adelie searched throughout the night and through Monday morning.
The plane has not been found, and officials also noted no pollution or debris from the plane turned up at the crash location or in the surrounding area.
A crew aboard the Kitsap Marine 81, a North Kitsap fire-rescue vessel, used a side-scan SONAR to search the area but they were unable to locate the sunken aircraft, officials said.
Searches were also conducted along the shores of the Eagle Harbor at its entrance, as well as southern Bainbridge Island, and from Blakely Harbor to Restoration Point.
The Coast Guard has been in contact with the families affected by the crash.
Officials said the search “may resume pending additional information.”
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