SEATTLE — Officials have located what may be wreckage from a deadly plane crash in Mutiny Bay after five days of searching.
The National Transportation Safety Board announced Friday that “identified targets” had been located on the seafloor near the crash site Thursday. Using sonar provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, investigators combed a 1.75-by-0.75-mile stretch of the Puget Sound around where the plane is believed to have crashed.
A spokesperson for NTSB said it is coordinating remote operated vessels to go beneath the surface and provide visual confirmation of whether the “targets” identified by sonar are part of the missing plane.
The targets are located 100-200 feet below the surface, in water with about a 3-5 knot current. The depth and motion of the water have hindered search efforts all week.
Since the crash, only small pieces of debris, some personal items and one body, identified as 29-year-old Gabby Hanna, have been recovered from the crash. Witnesses on the scene described plane as “disappearing” as soon as it hit the water.
Nine people including the pilot and eight other passengers are still unaccounted for but presumed dead. Among them were travelers, a pregnant woman, and a young child.
NTSB Board Member Tom Chapman said Tuesday that locating the wreckage is imperative to the investigation into the crash, including determining the cause.
“We don’t know the cause of the accident at this point. It could be related to a system failure or a mechanical failure or some other factor related to the aircraft, but we don’t know that and without evidence it'll be a challenge,” Chapman said late Tuesday.
NTSB previously worked with divers and surface crews provided by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife before teaming with NOAA to use sonar on Thursday.
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